Resurrection
by HotCrossBunnies
Summary: Five years after the explosion in which Chloe Sullivan was believed to have died, Lex Luthor makes a startling discovery which will change his life forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Resurrection**

**Rating:** M in later chapters

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Smallville.

**Spoilers:** Up to S4.

**Summary:** Five years after the explosion in which Chloe Sullivan was believed to have died, Lex Luthor makes a startling discovery which will change his life forever.

**Chapter One**

It was a freezing cold January morning in Smallville, most of the landscape was differentiated only by the shade of white. The ground as covered in a thick blanket of glistening white snow, with only one set of footprints to mare it. Frost clung to the headstones hiding their names and histories. The few trees standing around were likewise afflicted, it seemed hard to believe that one day they would bloom again; they were now so shrivelled and weighed down. Even the expanse of sky above was a greyish white. The only spot of colour on the horizon came from the lone figure emblazoned against it.

The man was dressed all in black. His long dark coat floated slightly behind him as the wind whipped about him, but that was the only movement since he had climbed to the top of hill over an hour ago. He just stood looking at the newest headstone, his hands in his pockets and his face devoid of expression.

Even through the frost he could just about make out the name "Lionel Luthor". It was not quite as reassuring as he had thought that it would be. He fingered a vile he had in his pocket. In that vile lay the real victory; what was left of his father's ashes. Lex had insisted that he see his father's corpse burned and discarded, keeping just enough to be a constant reminder.

What was in front of him was just an empty grave. It was as hollow as his final victory over his father. He wished that he could have been the one to deal the final blow, but he had not been the one to do it. He had thought of it but had always resisted as it was after all his father. Lionel had died alone in jail of a disease that Lex had not even known he had had. A few years ago, five to be exact, this would have bothered him, but now he felt numb. He turns his back on his father and walked away. The only moisture on his face was that left by the snowflakes.

Lex Luthor bent his head against the wind and made his way to the top of the cemetery where the two largest tombstones lay. As he looked at them there was a flicker of emotion that had not been present before. Lex's gloved hands clawed at the snow which clung to the monuments until the names and dedications were visible.

"Gabe and Chloe Sullivan", he finally spoke. He had come here almost every day since the explosion to look over the tombs, he had said her name every day and yet there was still the emotion present that he had tried to school himself out of. This sort of weakness was insufferable.

After the tragic explosion LuthorCorp had dedicated the tombs to their memory and Lex had made sure that they were the largest and the most ornate, as if honouring their memories would somehow bring them back. Lionel had been responsible and had spent the rest of his days in prison but it was not enough, nothing could be enough to compensate for Chloe's loss. She had been so young, so pure, so good.

Even as he stood there he could remember the first time that he had met her. He had heard of Clark's friend Chloe before of course, but he had imagined a tiny thing, pale with mousy brown hair with large glasses who hid behind her computer. That wasn't Chloe at all. She had brilliant short blonde hair, and a smile and enthusiasm which had immediately impressed him … not to mention a firm handshake.

She caused problems continuously. If there was trouble you could guarantee that Chloe would not only find it but stick her nose it in. Several instances always stayed with him. He had never allowed anyone to get an interview with him and the few people who had continued to try for one normally flattered and pandered to him, promising to ask him only questions that would make him look good. Chloe had not only been bold enough to get the interview but had asked him the questions he had hoped that no one would ever ask.

Even now he could see her face as she had asked those questions, heard her exasperation with Clark for not being well enough prepared. He could still feel the energy in the room as they had their little round of verbal judo. Then she had been thrown through a window. Even then he put her in danger. They never had got to finish their sparing match.

He would give anything to see her again, even if it was as she had been that day when she had been goading him about his baldness. He supressed a groan; in the space of one year she had grown extremely sexy. He knew that she had been infected with a parasite at that time, but that didn't change the way she looked – except for the dark streaks in her hair. He had almost been sad that she didn't remember anything from that episode as he would have loved to have taken her to task

He sighed as he realised that he could have taken her to task about it anyway. He could have spoken to her every damned day. He could have seen her every day. He could have … he could have not wasted the time he had had with her.

Deep down he had always known how special she really was, but he had ignored it. Ignored her. He hadn't paid her any attention until he had thought that he could get something out of her. Before that he had allowed her to be stressed, allowed her to worry about her father and her future. Still she had been so brave. She had taken on his father and won … almost.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, he could feel the familiar headache from too much work, not enough sleep and unadulterated remorse creeping up on him again. Her life had not been what it should have been. She had had so much potential wasted, more than anyone else he had ever known, and it had all been wasted.

She had missed out on so many things. She had only been to one or two dances and both of those had been disasters. She had only experienced a handful of kisses. There were so many articles left for her to write. Hell, she didn't even get to graduate and stand in the sun with her friends or walk into the halls of a college.

Lex heard the crunch of snow underfoot behind him. "Hello Clark", he greeted without turning around.

"I heard about your father", the Clark said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. He had known that this was where he would find Lex and that he shouldn't leave his friend alone at a time like this, but now that he was there he didn't know what to say.

"He had it coming", Lex shrugged, his eyes still fixed on Chloe's grave. "If I had had the courage to do that years ago then Chloe would still be with us".

"You can't blame yourself. We all miss her but we have to get on with our lives", Clark told him. This was not the first time that they had had this conversation. Ever since Chloe's death Lex had been withdrawn. Everyone had been devastated by her death, but five years on the healing process had started for everyone except Lex. It was odd, Clark didn't remember him having had that much contact with her before her death but after her death she consumed his thoughts.

"It was my fault, I promised that I would protect her", Lex stated.

"You couldn't have done anything", Clark said, not knowing whether or not that was actually true. But he said it anyway because he knew that Chloe wouldn't have wanted Lex's world to have stopped with her death. He had never been exactly social but since the explosion and his father's incarceration he was even more reserved.

Lex and LuthorCorp had merged and flourished under Lex's sole control. They were developing into more fields every day; it was now the most successful company in the world. Clark knew that Lex had once thought of entering politics and whilst the thought had always scared him he had actually suggested it a few months back just to see if he would bring Lex out of himself, the richest man in the world had just laughed and said that there was no point now as he could just buy the White House with the change in his back pocket.

This statement had made Clark nervous. Lex had turned cold, hard and ruthless. The list of his conquests in both business and pleasure was longer than ever, Clark would have thought that he had lost his heart completely if he hadn't seen him so often at Chloe's grave and not realised the significance of his merged company being called C-Corp.

"Oh yes I could", Lex whispered.

Lex paced back and forwards, he was encased in tons of concrete and surrounded by the best the US military had to offer; he should have felt safe but he had never been more scared in his life. Every few seconds he kept on glancing down at his watch. They should have arrived by now.

He started to doubt himself. He should never have included Chloe in his plans, he should have taken on his father himself. This plan should work, Chloe would enter the house with her father, they would get them into the tunnels and then set the explosion. But they should have arrived by now.

His pacing continued.

What if Lionel had already got to her? What is she was already dead by this point? What if the FBI agents had been corrupted already and had taken her straight to him? What if she was tied down to a table somewhere being tortured and touched by his father? Lex started towards the door at the top of the staircase that would lead him into the house.

"What are you doing?" A gruff voice asked, restraining him.

"I am going to get Chloe, she should have been here by now", Lex tried to get free.

At a nod from the general, Lex was held back by two soldiers.

"She is only a few minutes later than we expected and the people we have following her say that she is safe and will be arriving in exactly minutes. This will go as planned", the three-star general assured him. He then gave the soldiers another nod and they let Lex go.

"Listen, Lionel wouldn't make his move this soon, at the very earliest he would act at night. We will get them both out before anything can happen. The only ones who will know about this outside the family are you and several of my most select soldiers; these are men who I trust with my life, who have literally been willing to lay down their lives for me and my family. We will get Chloe out of here safely", he still barked, but there was a kindly glint in his eyes.

Lex nodded. "And everything is planned for after that. There is ten million dollars for each of the Sullivan's in the accounts".

"Good, I will protect them", Sam assured him. Then they heard the beep that informed them that the car was pulling up.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Two of the soldiers went up first, opening the door only a crack to peer around, the second that Chloe and her father were safely in and the front door was closed they burst in and started to drag them both down the stairs.

Chloe tried to protest and was fighting the man see saw Lex run up to her. He held out his hand to her and said, "Chloe come on".

"Lex", she gasped but grabbed his hand and followed without further comment. The look of fear and confusion in her eyes would haunt him for years, almost as much as her willingness to follow him in that moment. She had put all of her trust in him and he hadn't lived up to it.

"Come on", he continued to urge her once they were inside the tunnels still holding her hand and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders as she recoiled at the sounds going on above their heads. As the house exploded over their heads she looked back checking on her Dad rather than running and trying to save her own skin.

"He's fine, come on", Lex hurried her forwards. He could see her Uncle ahead of them but was not sure whether or not she had recognised who it was yet. They wound around in the tunnels for several miles, until they came out into the bright light. Only then did he reluctantly let go of her.

The second that he was no longer holding her she tore back and hugged her Dad.

Lex felt a knot forming in his stomach at this display of need. He knew that they wouldn't be together for much longer and that it would be his fault. He could hear Chloe sobbing that she was so sorry and him squeezing her tightly and telling her that it was all alright and that whatever happened he was proud of her because she had stood up and done the right thing.

Uncle Sam and Lex traded meaningful glances; they both knew what was going to happen next.

"Gabe, Chloe", the general started as he walked over them. Lex barely heard what he said as he explained the situation as he hugged both of them, the billionaire was too busy watching Chloe. She dried her tears as if unwilling to let anyone see her distress. He saw her expression change and her father's hand squeeze her shoulder. She must have been told that she was to be taken away, permanently. Away from everything she had ever loved and known. Her father would not even be with her for the first six months or so. She would be with her Uncle on an army barracks the destination of which she would not be told at this point.

Her chin quivered although she tried to hold it together. She turned around and embraced her father once more as if she knew that this may be the last time that they would ever see each other.

Lex's heart broke in that moment. That was the day that Chloe Sullivan died. The body was alive and well but her life was over and as he caught her gaze as she got on the helicopter with her uncle he realised that she knew that.

It had not been hard to fake desolation at her funeral.

Lex gritted his teeth as he tried to rid his mind of the images of Chloe's stricken face, or her voice as she uttered the plaintive words "Goodbye Daddy" to Gabe. She hadn't even said goodbye to Lex, just looked straight at him and blinked away tears as she got on the helicopter. His father had lived his life and made all of the wrong choices, Chloe hadn't even had the chance to experience most of life before she was sent away. She had been confined just as much as his father had been - she had been taken away, forced into hiding, away from everything that she loved and was familiar to her, never having the chance to put down roots as she moved at least once every six months.

Lionel had deserved the miserable existence he had been confined to. Chloe had not. But it had been the only way to keep her safe. When push had come to shove, he hadn't even let her testify. She had made a video several days before the explosion which was to be delivered to the court in the event of her disappearance. That had served to put his father in prison and keep her safe, or so he had thought …

He knew that his father was a powerful man, even behind bars. That was why Chloe had had to be kept moving, just in case he ever caught on. Several months ago, when he knew that he didn't have long to live Chloe had disappeared. He had left it to the last minute, allowing them to think that they had got away with it but live in fear until … she was gone.

Lex's hands clenched into fists. This was all so wrong, he should have just taken a gun and shot his father. No trial. No danger for Chloe. No horrible constant gnawing feeling in the base of his stomach.

He was so distracted by his remorse that he hadn't noticed that someone else had come up behind them, until he heard a low throaty voice which sounded quite a lot like Lois' saying, "You are the last person I expected to find here".

He gritted his teeth; this was not the first time that he had had to deal with people – namely Lois – coming to tell him off for not leaving Chloe alone when it was his fault that she was dead. He sighed, he could tell by the voice that it wasn't Lois but it sounded like another member of the Lane family, that voice was too distinctive.

Clark had turned around, "Who are you?" He demanded, obviously put out by the intrusion.

"Lucy Lane", the voice replied.

Lex turned around. He knew that name, it had been … no it would just be her cousin. He stared hard at the woman in front of him. She looked to be about 5,8 but was probably only 5,5 without her heals on. She was slim and toned, a fact highlighted by her obviously expensive dark wool coat. From the looks of it, she had recently been in Italy as she was wearing the fall collection and dark glasses with her coat. Lex's heart began to beat a little faster but he tried to control himself, he was seeing things.

He focused on her face. Her hair is shoulder length and a rich auburn and her skin was like porcelain, her lips were painted a deep red. She looked different but it could still be her, if only he could see her eyes then he would know for sure.

Taking a step forwards, he asked, a note of desperation in his voice, "Chloe?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Martha Kent was on her way out to the barn to see how Jonathan was getting on with mending the tractor yet again, when she saw three cars speeding along the road to their house. The first was Clark's red truck, the next was Lex's silver car – she never could tell one make from another – and the one bringing up the rear looked like a black version of Lex's.

"What on earth is going on?" Martha wondered, it had been quite a while since Lex had visited the farm and she had no idea who the third car could belong to. She walked out into the driveway and waited for them to come to a stop. The second that the truck did, Clark sprang out looking as if he might burst with energy, his face contorted by some strong emotion. Martha ran towards him trying to tell if something was wrong. Could Lex have found out his secret?

"She's alive", Clark screamed as he ran towards his mother. She looked at him in confusion as he reached her side and hugged her before running back to the third car. Lex was getting out of the second one and likewise going back to the black car. Wondering what was going on Martha made her way over there herself.

Clark was holding the door open as an extremely elegant young lady stepped out and surveyed her surroundings. Then she turned her attention to Martha, taking in her appearance through her dark glasses.

"Hello", Martha extended her hand to Clark's friend.

"Hello", the woman returned, shaking Martha's hand before slipping off her glasses.

"Oh my God", Martha fell against Clark as her knees went weak. "Chloe", she gasped, struggling forwards, with Clark's help, to embrace the girl.

"Mrs Kent", Chloe managed a small smile as the elder woman hugged her warmly.

"Oh darling, where have you been?" The redhead asked stroking the side of her face, trying to assure herself that it really was Chloe. "We thought that you had died. And what about your father?"

"Dad's fine", Chloe managed to say before being interrupted by Jonathan, "What is all this about? What's going on?" He shot Lex a dirty look; where there was a Luthor, there was trouble.

"It's Chloe Dad, she's back".

They all sat in the Kent's living room sipping the hot chocolate that Martha had made for them after insisting that they all came in and got warm, explanations could wait a little while longer. Lex had smiled slightly at that, he had always known that Martha was a kind and perceptive woman. She, like he, had noticed that Chloe was certainly not at her ease being hugged or crowded by people. It wasn't surprising he supposed, after all she had spent the majority of the last five years on her own fearing for her life. He wanted to know what had happened to her but like Martha thought that he could wait a little longer to get the full story out of her if it meant keeping her relaxed.

At first he had been reluctant when Clark had said that they would all go to his house, he had wanted to take her the mansion but gave in thinking that possibly Chloe would feel more at home at the Kents'. Besides he was too happy and relieved to mind anything. He wasn't even_ too_ jealous that Clark got to embrace her immediately while he had to stand the side and watch, even though his arms ached to hold her.

"How are you?" Jonathan asked her, breaking through Lex's thoughts. Chloe gave them all a perfect smile, "Great".

Lex didn't buy it. The smile was a work of art but it didn't reach her eyes.

"You aren't dead", Clark repeated, still trying to wrap his mind around the concept.

"No", she laughed, "I am still alive and kicking".

"I don't understand … how …?" Clark asked.

"It is all thanks to Lex", Chloe looked over at him briefly, although she did not make eye contact. She seemed more uncomfortable around him than anyone else, Lex noticed. He shifted back in his seat, he wanted to lean in and take in as much of her as he could, but if there was a chance that she was afraid of him then he would have to be very careful. Maybe she thought that he was like his father.

Chloe's next words dispelled this theory.

"He saved my father and me". They all looked at her with interest and so she continued, "The FBI said that they would protect us and they dropped us off at a safe house but they didn't do a very good job of it. Luckily Lex had contacted my Uncle Sam – the three star general – and they tricked the FBI into using a safe house which had a concrete series of tunnels underneath it. The second that we got inside they burst out of the tunnel, grabbed us and got us out just in time. Then we got on a helicopter and went to safety". Chloe conveniently left out how scared she had been and the misery she had lived through since that day.

They stared at her in shock, "You knew that she was alive all of the time?" Clark turned to Lex.

He nodded, "I'm sorry Clark. I didn't want to lie to you, but we couldn't tell anyone. Not even her cousin knows". The truth was that he had actually very rarely thought about what the situation was doing to Clark. He had wished sometimes that he could allay people's fears, especially Lois' whose grief seemed genuine, but he had been far more concerned with Chloe's safety than Clark's feelings. Besides, Lex thought bitterly, Clark hadn't seemed to take the news as hard as he should have. Had Chloe loved him, Lex would never have been able to date anyone else let alone the girl who had always made Chloe feel inferior.

Chloe looked down in shame at that. "I know that Lois has been here in the past, is she okay?"

"Yes, she was very upset obviously but she is well", Martha assured her putting her hand on Chloe's shoulder and wincing as she felt Chloe tense up. "We understand why you did it sweetheart. You didn't have a choice".

Chloe's aversion to being touched was also noted by Lex.

"Well I don't understand. I don't know how she got mixed up with Lionel Luthor in the first place, let alone having to run for her life", Jonathan Kent exploded. He had had enough of having this conversation as if it were normal that innocent girls just had to play dead for a while and then came back. This was Luthor's fault, he glared at Lex.

"Jonathan", Martha scolded. She needn't have bothered, Lex had stopped caring long ago what the head of the Kent family thought of him, the only thing that concerned him was the growing flush in Chloe's cheeks. He wondered if she was getting sick.

"No Martha, I'm sorry but I have said that the Luthors were bad news for years. Now they have hurt Chloe, her …"

"It wasn't the Luthors", Chloe's voice was cold and took them all by surprise; the old Chloe could never have spoken like that. "It was Lionel and I got myself into the mess, me and no one else. It wasn't Lex's responsibility to get me out of it, he didn't even allow me to testify", Chloe rose to her feet, "Thank-you for the hot chocolate Mrs Kent, I think that it is about time that I left".

Lex was torn. Part of him was delighted that she was willing to defend him, that she clearly wasn't afraid of him. Part of him was concerned at how hard Chloe now appeared to have become. And part of him was just so sorry that he hadn't protected her as he should have and wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go.

Clark had been sitting silently for a few minutes, trying to process all of this when he saw Chloe climb to her feet and wanted to drag her back down and hold onto her, he couldn't risk losing her all over again.

"No Chloe, don't leave yet", Martha pleaded, "Jonathan didn't mean any of that. We would like to catch up. Do you have somewhere to stay? Would you like to stay here?"

Chloe looked unsure for a moment but then felt compelled by the desperation she saw in Martha's eyes to sit back down. "That is very kind of you but I have been taken care of".

"Well you know that you are always welcome here", Martha said, sitting as well. "You can change your mind at any time".

Chloe smiled.

"I mean it, any time. 1 o'clock in the morning …"

Chloe put her hand over Martha's, and Lex noticed that she seemed better when she was the one to initiate the contact. "I understand thank-you Mrs Kent. Really. But I am fine, I'm staying at the best hotel in Metropolis".

"That's expensive", Jonathan commented.

"Don't worry, I have money. Dying was financially the best decision that either my father or I ever made", her eyes flicked over to Lex before returning her attention back to Martha.

Martha just smiled. This was a rather difficult situation.

"I hate to seem like I am pumping you for information but I guess that old habits die hard. What do you know about Lois? I don't want to scare her too much when she finds out the truth", Chloe asked them.

"She was distraught", Jonathan put in. "She thought that her cousin had died. She came here to find out the truth a few months after your death. For a time she thought that you might actually be alive because there was nothing in your tomb, but Lex", he cast the billionaire a dirty look, "said that there had not been enough of you left to put in a coffin".

Lex noticed Chloe's shoulders tense at this.

"You can imagine how she was affected by such news. But after enough time, she stopped looking. She gave up hope", Jonathan continued ignoring his wife's furious 'I hope that you will enjoy sleeping in the barn for the next month' look.

Chloe looked forlorn.

"Don't even think it Chloe", Lex's voice was low and commanding. She looked up at him, eye contact for the first time. "You couldn't have got a message to her, you know that. Any contact would have put you in danger and her too. It is regrettable that she was upset, but unavoidable".

Clark swallowed. He had just been regretting that Chloe hadn't found a way to slip him a note, without thinking about the risk for everyone involved. This wasn't something that they should be going in to right then and he could see that his father was about to say something to that and so asked the question that had been plaguing him. "Where have you been?"

"Here, there, everywhere", she gave another perfect smile and Lex wondered if anyone but he could see that it was painted on.

"I was put in army barracks with Uncle Sam at first under the name Lucy Lane. She's my cousin, Lois' younger sister, who ran off several years back so it wasn't strange that my Uncle was so protective of me and wouldn't let me off the barracks or sent a military escort with me everywhere", she explained.

"That must have been difficult for you", Martha said understandingly.

"No", Chloe lied. "It was a fantastic experience, I got to travel the world somewhere new every four months and it really gave me a chance to focus on my school work. I graduated within six months and then every time we moved I got to study a new language, they military program for language learning is fantastic. No knowledge to fluency in 3 months".

Her jaw tightened imperceptibly as the memories from the first six months flooded over her - sitting in front of her computer in a locked room for hours poring over her school work and trying to stop sniffling.

"Your father went with you?"

"No, not at first. For the first year we were kept apart for our own safety, but after that we were more or less near each other, one the same continent at least", Chloe brushed it off. There was no need for them to know the number of nights she had laid awake crying and hugging her pillow, desperate for some word from her Daddy.

Lex felt a little sick at that, her face had always been so expressive but now the blank mask told him more than her tears ever could have. She had been broken.

"Where did you get to go?" Martha asked, clearly wanting to keep the conversation going so that none of the men would have the opportunity to say anything.

"At first just within the States, but once my Uncle had to travel abroad I was put under the supervision of someone else and we went to Europe namely: England, Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy and finally Croatia."

"Oh how lovely", Martha said wanting to kick herself, the poor girl had been running for her life, not on some bloody holiday. "You must have got to go to see a lot of things."

"Some", Chloe nodded. "I couldn't really go out in daytime especially not in the UK because there are surveillance cameras everywhere; it would have been too easy for Lionel to find me. But I have been to all of the major museums etc." She strove not to look over at Lex, "Someone very kind made sure that all of the systems of the things that would interest me were taken off line at night so that I could go to them, and shopping etc."

Chloe thought that she should stop there but she continued anyway. This might well be the only time that she would ever see Lex again and she couldn't bring herself to face him. This would most probably be the only opportunity that she would ever have to say thank-you, and that she knew and appreciated everything that he had done for her.

"For my last birthday the power along several streets in Rome went out and there was a bomb threat so that nearly everyone was removed as the military moved in." She smiled. "I got an entirely new wardrobe and enough books to put Waterstone's out of business".

There was awkward moment.

"Glad to hear that you were having fun whilst we were all worried sick", Clark muttered and then looked stricken. "I'm sorry, Chloe I didn't mean … it wasn't …"

"It's fine Clark", Chloe assured him, "You don't have the power to hurt me". She didn't add 'no one does anymore'.

"Well you are back now", Martha tried to get the topic back on to neutral ground. "What are you going to do? Are you thinking about college?"

"I'm not sure yet. I thought that I would spend my life in hiding so I didn't let myself think about what I would do if I ever got out. When I was told that Lionel was on his last legs, I admit that I did have some fantasies about being back in the real world and being a journalist or something … but I didn't let myself indulge too much as I still didn't know if I would survive. It was only when we received confirmation of Lionel's death that I could come out of hiding. I have only been legally alive for a few hours; I need to find my place in the world before I worry about the next step. Luckily I don't actually _have_ to work so I can indulge myself for a few more weeks", she smiled.

She didn't mention the fact that she wasn't even sure how she would manage in a working situation or who would want her as she was. Feeling uncomfortable under all of their gazes, she flashed another megawatt smile. "Besides, I might need to officially finish High School before I think about anything else".

"What?" Lex demanded.

"Well, I did the work and got the grades as you know but I don't think that the board of education will accept that", Chloe explained herself, shocked by Lex's outburst.

"Yes they will. You were on the military system, everything that you did counts. As do your languages qualifications, which will be changed to be under your name. Any College in America or University in Europe would accept those credits and give you a degree", Lex said.

"Wow, you really thought of everything", the words were out of Chloe's mouth before she thought.

"Not quite everything".

"Yes, well I really should be going. I need to unpack". Chloe got up, said goodbye to the Kents, promised to call and made her way out to her car accompanied by Mr and Mrs Kent.

No sooner were they out of the room than Clark demanded, "Was it fun, Lex?"

Lex just raised an eyebrow at him.

"All of these years, pretending that she was dead. Making us think that you were being eaten up by remorse? What was it? Revenge for me keeping secretes from you, you decided not to tell any of us that Chloe wasn't dead. Hell, you might have been angry at me but what the hell did Lois or Lana ever do to you?" He only kept his voice down so that Chloe wouldn't hear.

He let out a derisive laugh, "You know you should get a bloody Oscar. That performance at her funeral and that one this morning were impressive". He had to blame someone for this, and he sure as hell wasn't ready to admit that he had played a part in all of this by keeping his secret from Chloe.

"I never used the word dead at her funeral", Lex reminded him, "I said that she was gone, and she was. Her life was fucking over. And as she disappeared from my radar four months ago, I did think that she was dead. As for your pain, considering how quickly you moved on to Lana, I don't think that you have any room to talk". With that Lex headed towards the door, hoping that he would be able to get a word with Chloe before she left.

Clark grabbed Lex's arm, only thinking to control his super strength at the last minute, "Don't you dare tell me how much I care about Chloe".

Lex groaned as he heard Chloe's car pull away.

"Well then maybe you should worry a little bit less about me, and a little bit more about the fact that she is clearly in a great deal of pain, cannot stand to be touched from the looks of things, keeps looking around as if she expects to be picked off at any moment and plans on going through all of this alone", Lex suggested pulling his arm out of Clark's grip.

It did not actually matter what Clark did or did not do. Lex had to make a few phone calls to ensure that legally everything was sorted, then he would go to her hotel room. Chloe Sullivan was not going to go through this alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Chloe sat on her bed and looked around her hotel suit. It was large and immaculately furnished. It was the most comfort she had had in five years … or in her whole life really as the Sullivans had not been exactly rich before that, but she was left unimpressed.

"Come on, snap out of it", she chided herself. This was ridiculous, she finally had what she had not even dared to dream of for years and she was letting herself get upset. For the first time she could go anywhere she wanted, do anything she wanted and yet she was still divided from those she loved and felt as alone as she had in those first few months.

Chloe blinked back the tears as she checked the final box and pressed the submit button. Her computer announced that she had completed her current task. She sniffled. This was pathetic.

She looked around the room. It was nice enough; it was far bigger than her bedroom at home and made to look even larger by the fact that it was painted bright white. It was divided in two by a screen, behind which stood her bed, bedside table, wardrobe and chest of draws. On the other side was a large desk complete with computer and everything else she needed to do her school work, sofa and TV in its own cabinet. There were two doors, one which led out into the hallway and one which led to her en suite.

Chloe couldn't remember the last time that she had left the room, it must have been five days ago at least. At first she had longed to go outside but now she was more realistic. Sometimes she would stand on her sofa and jump so that she could see out of the high window, which allowed light in, to catch a glimpse of the outside world but mostly she tried to avoid it. It was too painful to see the world carrying on when she was stuck in there.

The computer beeped. Chloe looked for her next assignment and couldn't believe it when she saw that there were no more. She had completed an entire year's worth of work in less than six months she had been working so hard. That was rather worrying. That meant that she had enough credits to graduate with an A. But what would she do now?

She pushed back from the desk, she had no idea what she was going to do next. Every waking second she thought about her father, her friends, what she was missing out on and so she had put everything into her studies. Every morning she got up, ran into the bathroom to wash and change so quickly that she barely saw her reflection, and then got on her computer where she stayed until she couldn't keep her eyes open and dragged herself over to the bed, or the sofa if she couldn't make it that far, or sometimes she fell asleep at her desk. The only contact she had was when someone brought her her meals three times a day which she picked at and left, returning the last plate when the next one came. When her uncle was around he tried to visit her, they talked for five minutes and that was that.

Then Chloe would return to her room feeling worse than before, - accompanied by the guards who had been with her that day in the tunnels - and she would work, her vision becoming steadily more blurred as she stared at her screen refusing to let the tears fall. She would be strong.

She stretched and realised just how tired and sore her body was from the hours of forced stillness. Maybe a hot shower would help. She went over to the bathroom and turned the shower on and began to strip her clothes off. Normally she did this as quickly as possible and dived into the shower without looking at herself, she wanted to get to work as quickly as possible as if that would somehow stop the thoughts that plagued her, but today she knew that there was no more work for her to do.

"Urgh", she groaned as she looked down at herself. She had most definitely gained weight in the time that she had been there and her skin was not looking its best. She pulled out the scales and stood on them. Another groan, 2 stone more than when she had been living in Smallville. "Great", she grumbled.

Chloe turned her attention to the mirror and was even more concerned by what she saw there. That wasn't Chloe Sullivan.

Chloe Sullivan's hair had been short for many years although the style was constantly changing as her hair grew so quickly that she sometimes just had it cut in weird and wonderful styles just to see how it would look, knowing that it would have grown out in a week. Now her hair was almost touching her shoulders, but it wasn't blonde. The top was her natural brown but even duller than she remembered due to her incarceration, the bottoms still dyed blonde but faded. There was no shape, no style, no colour. It looked awful.

Her skin was just as bad. She never wore that much make-up as her skin had always been good but now it looked terrible. So pale she was almost grey rather than an elegant white or healthy tan.

The worst was yet to come. Her eyes were undefined, puffy and red. The large bags underneath them told of her irregular sleeping habits and how difficult she found it to rest with the constant noise. If Clark could see her now he would run in the other direction, she wanted to run away and hope that the scary lady wouldn't follow her. Not that she would be able to get far with the shape that she was in. She was fat. Well, maybe not technically, there were no pockets of fat on her body but she was thicker than she had been before and she had always wanted to be ten pounds lighter then. What was worse, she had lost the toned look she had had before.

"Well that is what happens if you sit of your ass for months on end", she told herself.

She looked over at the discarded pile of clothes. Sweats and nothing else. This was ridiculous, she knew that she had a load of stuff in the other room, normal clothes and probably even some make-up.

"This stops right now", she looked herself in the eye in the mirror.

She wrapped herself in her bathroom, turned off the shower and headed out into her bedsit. She pulled out a box from under her bed; it contained things that she had been given in case she had had to move. In there she found make-up, various hair dyes and things like that.

Rifling through the collection she found several bottles of foundation which would take care of her skin. Unfortunately it would almost make her look like a Goth it was so pale, but at least that way she would be able to cover up the grey. That settled which hair dye she picked, the black. She checked the back, it wasn't permanent, it would come out after ten washes but she would have worked out something else by then. She did not intend to remain cooped up but she wouldn't go out whilst she looked like she did now. There were other things, spray cans in various colours. Fun!

Chloe grabbed what she had decided she needed and went back into the bathroom.

Two hours later Chloe stood in front of the mirror and felt better. Her hair was as short as it had been in her sophomore year when she had been possessed, but this time it was black with red highlights. Her skin was a perfect white which hid a multitude of sins. Her eyes darkly lined and her lips highlighted red to match her hair. She looked like the bad egg daughter of a general, not a scared miserable little girl and that was an improvement.

Her skin also looked a little better now that she had showered again but she was determined that she would do something about that too. She headed back into her bedroom and over to the wardrobe. She did not have that much in the way of clothing, she had been opting for the sweats because that was what the army had provided and she had been loathed to take anything from the pile Lex had purchased for her but she got over that as she looked through them.

She grabbed a pair of black jeans which fit very snuggly, a nondescript black top and a blazer style jacket. She looked around for shoes and found some boots, perfect. If she was going to step on some toes then she should make sure that her own feet were adequately prepared.

When she was dressed she decided that she wasn't going to waste another second. She was going to go outside, she knew that she would not be allowed off the military base but she was going to go outside!

Chloe walked over and unlocked the door from the inside, yanked it open and stepped out.

"Where are you going, Ms Lane?" One of the soldiers she recognised by sight asked her, as he stepped in front of her. Her room had a permanent guard.

"Outside for a walk", she said, her chin raised. He looked vaguely amused by her new look and stance. Her chin was held a little too high and her tone a little too combative, but she wouldn't back down. If she couldn't be Chloe Sullivan anymore then she would embrace Lucy Lane and at least get a breath of fresh air.

"About time!"

Chloe closed her eyes willing the memories of those first months to disappear and breathed deeply, trying to relax. Outside her room she could just about hear people moving around , Chloe could barely believe that she now actually found that soothing and that it had been the peace and quiet of the Kent farm to make her nervous. She had grown used to always hearing people around her, even when she was alone. She supposed that she should have been more afraid of the people as if she was alone then no one could hurt her, but more than anything now she feared being alone. Everyone seemed to leave her. What if one day she was left all alone? Complete forgotten?

"You're pathetic", she scolded herself, getting up and making her way over to her suitcase, it was time to unpack; she couldn't put it off any longer. At that moment she heard a knock and the door and checked her watch. It was too late for the maid to be coming, she wondered who it was.

"Just a minute", she called in an airy tone. She knew that there would be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why someone was knocking on her door in broad daylight when she wasn't expecting one, Lionel was dead for God's sake, she was in no danger. But that didn't stop her from grabbing her gun from her handbag on the way to the door.

Chloe peered through the spyhole and was shocked by what she saw. "Lex?" She asked.

"Yes", he replied through the door and after fiddling with the locks she opened the door to him.

Lex winced as her heard the forced cheerfulness in her voice as she called that she was coming. That wasn't good; he could tell that she was scared and so he took a step back from the door hoping that she wouldn't be intimidated and could get a good look at him through the spyhole. If she didn't check before opening the door she would be in trouble.

He still had no idea where he stood with her and their limited interaction at the Kent's farm had done nothing to clear it up for him. He had always thought that she would hate him, but he had not seen any traces of hate. For a time he had thought that she might be afraid of him, maybe that was why she refused to really look at him, but then she had defended him. A glimmer of hope welled up in him, but he squashed it, she hadn't said goodbye to him either or made any effort to contact him.

As he heard his name on her lips, he smiled. "Hello again", he greeted her as she opened the door. Although she tried to look composed he could tell that she was surprised to see him there, she stood with one arm holding the door open and the other behind her back.

He looked her up and down. She had taken her coat off and he could make out her form through her perfectly tailored black trousers and low cut blue top. "Nice to see you", he gave her his most charming, most practiced smile.

Chloe rolled her eyes, but held her stance. She was used to men looking at her, she had been surrounded by them in the last few years although most of them tried to pretend that they weren't when one of her guards was around. She had stopped feeling nervous about it quite a while ago, now it just made her feel powerful although the way that Lex looked at her as if he could see right through her clothes and wanted to eat her up made her a little apprehensive and excited.

"Just happen to be in the area?" She asked conversationally, looking over his shoulder. Lex made her uneasy, he was the only one who probably still could. She owed him so much and he had seen her at the last moments of her being Chloe Sullivan, she was sure when he looked at her that he could see her inner insecure self.

"No, I was in Smallville but I wanted to speak to you so I flew over here. May I come in?" Lex asked, he saw no reason to hide his reasons for coming from her.

She raised her eyebrow as she heard that he wanted to speak with her but stepped back and allowed him to come in, closing the door after him careful to never turn her back to him.

"Nice place", Lex commented as he looked around.

"Yes, it is rather", Chloe responded a little warily.

"It must be costing you a bit. How long are you planning on staying here?" Lex asked as he turned back around to face her, noticing that her suitcases hadn't been touched yet.

"Yes, well I can afford it. Did you come here to ask for a loan?" Chloe asked trying to gage his reaction; he would be perfectly within his rights to ask for the money back now that she was no longer in hiding.

Lex smirked and shook his head. "I just came to see you because I wanted to speak to you, no ulterior motive". He watched her intently, trying to read her as she read him. Did she think that he wanted the money back? Did she not understand that he wanted to care for her?

"From a Luthor, I'll believe that when I see it", she said. Damn, that was stupid. He had done so much for her, she owed him so much.

"Well, nothing terribly ulterior", he offered seeming unaffected by her comment.

"What can I do for you?" Chloe asked as she moved over to an armchair and sat down on it, motioning to Lex to do the same on the sofa which faced the chair. He noticed that she had chosen the only option which would ensure that she was not actually forced to sit next to him. He also noticed that her arm remained behind her - almost casually -, but he was fairly certain what was held behind her.

"I want you to come and stay with me at the mansion", Lex announced, without preamble.

"I beg your pardon?" Chloe chocked, sure that she must have misheard.

"I want you to come and stay with me at the mansion", Lex repeated, somewhat amused by her reaction. She did not look afraid, just a shocked. He could not imagine that this would be the only time that Chloe was propositioned by a rich, powerful man – although he was probably the only one who really did just want to live with her.

"Why?"

Damn, that was a question that he didn't want to answer, it wasn't that he didn't have an answer, he just didn't want to give it to her. Maybe he could get away with just outlining how it would be beneficial to her. He looked into her eyes and knew that that would never be enough; he had to be honest.

"Look Chloe, I promised to protect you and I didn't do that. I want to make that right now". Seeing that she was just staring at him incredulously, he continued, "Let me help you".

"You did protect me, you got me out of there and gave me money. The fact that I am still alive proves that you did protect me and I don't need help now", Chloe replied, her face an emotionless mask.

Chloe had the most animate face that Lex had ever seen, he had been impressed by it the first time that they had ever met. Back in Smallville she would never have been able to pull of this mask, he ground his teeth. Four months ago, the last time that Lex had seen her on camera, she had not been able to mask her emotions this well. "What happened to you, Chloe?" He wondered, but dared not ask her yet unless she shut down completely.

He sighed. "I may have protected you physically but I didn't emotionally. I just took you away from your life, from everything, left you alone in a room for months, …."

"You were watching?"

"I was informed", he dodged the question. No good would come from that line of thinking. "When I lost contact with you, I was so scared. I thought that Lionel had finally got hold of you and killed you. That you would never get the chance to do any of the things that you were supposed to. That was when I knew that I should have killed my father years ago; I should never have let you be hurt".

Lex's eyes had been on his clenched fists for most of this confession, it was only at the end that he dared to look back up at her.

"I wasn't hurt".

"You are, emotionally", Lex challenged her. He could not stand to see this passive face on her, he had been trying to ease her into the idea that he wanted to / would help her but if she needed to be provoked then he could do that too.

"That is bullshit!" She spat at him, "Why is it that everyone thinks that little Chloe must not be able to handle anything?"

"I think that you can handle anything", Lex corrected her, a touch of steel in his tone, "but no one can go through what you have been through and not have some difficulties".

She scowled at him; she hated the idea that he knew some of what she had suffered. No one should know anything about her that she had not herself chose to tell them – she had changed a lot since her hungry high school reporter days.

"Your entire life has been taken away", Lex reminded her, pleased to see the fire beginning to simmer in her eyes, "now legally I can and have given you that back. I will also make sure that you are credited with a College degree, you have enough money to never have to work again … but you have to decide where and how you want to live".

"And I will", Chloe assured him.

"And how are you going to make that decision hauled up here?" He inquired.

Chloe shifted uncomfortably, she knew that he had a point but she wasn't willing to admit to it, so she just retorted, "It's a nice place".

"Yes, but that isn't the real reason why you are here, is it?" He stared at her intently.

She shifted again.

Lex knew that he had been right; her body language told him as much even if her lips refused to. "You cannot stand the silence, it makes you uncomfortable so you need constant security and people around you although never actually in the same room as you. You need to have only strictly formal relationships with everyone around you. You cannot stand to be touched. And you are still afraid; for God's sake you are carrying a gun".

Chloe couldn't deny any of it and took the gun out from behind her back. Lex reached out to take it from her and was surprised when she let him do so, she clearly trusted him if nothing else.

"Come back to Smallville with me Chloe", he looked at her earnestly. "There is a room waiting for you which is just as nice as this one, so you can have your privacy but still have the constant reminder that people are around you outside, and that you haven't been forgotten".

Her green eyes widened at this, how had he known her greatest fear? This did not escape Lex but he forged on, "The security is state of the art, which will help you to feel safe until you get used to being out in the big wide world again".

It was another good point, Chloe had to admit. He seemed like he had really thought all of this out, which concerned her.

"I know that you were originally from Metropolis and I can understand that you might want to come back here eventually, but Smallville is a better area for you for now", Lex tried to explain so that she wouldn't just think that he was trying to control her. "There are too many people in Metropolis. I know that you want to get over this quickly and force yourself to interact and just snap out of it, but it doesn't work like that. If you do that then you are likely to just end up making it worse. Smallville will be a big enough adjustment for you to start with. There you will be able to get used to interacting with people again; see the people that you used to care about; and find your place in society".

Chloe considered his offer. She was angry that he could see all of that about her when she wanted to hide it and that he thought that it was his job to look after her, but she couldn't deny that his offer was tempting. It made sense in a lot of ways and as much as Lex made her uncomfortable, he made her feel safe.

"I don't want charity", she said finally.

"Oh, I never said that it was free. I will expect you to work for your room and board. I am working on several new projects which could use your unique talents", Lex told her knowing even as he said it that that would be the deal clincher. She needed a project.

A mystery, Chloe's ears picked up. She needed something to do or else she would go crazy. She pondered his offer - a chance to live at the mansion, to feel safe, and to be of use to someone and keep her mind off things.

"I will give you exclusive rights to be my only official interviewer", Lex offered, surely there was no way that she could resist that.

"If I try to go back into journalism, you will let me interview you and print it?" Chloe checked, narrowing her eyes at him. He really must want her to come and stay with him if he was willing to offer that.

Lex nodded. "I know that you wouldn't be happy just being a lady of leisure, that you will want to work. I also know that you must have been worried about finding a job as even with a college degree you have no work experience except for a job at the Planet you got fired from. You come to work for me for two months and I will give you a fantastic review which will get you into any sector you want. I know that you would never forgive me for buying you a position but I will support you however I can, in whatever field you choose to enter", he assured her.

"If in a two months you decide that journalism is still your thing then the Planet will be impressed that you have worked for me on this campaign, that you can get an interview with me and if you wanted it would even give you the chance to write your own story", Lex pointed out.

"The offer was very tempting", Chloe admitted as her brain tried to process all of this. Everything in her told her to accept, she had no reason not to other than her need to stand on her own two feet and the funny feeling that she got when she was around Lex.

"So what is it to be Miss Sullivan?" Lex asked, even as he decided that he would not accept no for an answer.

Chloe surveyed him for a few more seconds and she realised that he genuinely did just want to help her, he was not going to weaken her.

"Okay", she tried to ignore the tingles which travelled across her skin at the thought of spending more time with him, "On one condition. I like hearing my name, my real name".

He smiled. "Very well, Chloe Ann Sullivan".


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Well, that was pathetic", those dark eyes leered down at Chloe as she collapsed on the hard cold floor.

"Fuck off", Chloe spat back, holding onto her side.

"I'm glad to see that there is some fight in there at least", he smirked down at her.

"You have no idea", Chloe glared at him.

"Actually I have a pretty good idea", he crouched down next to her, "I know who you really are, I know what you did to get yourself into this position and what you did to try to get out of it".

"My Uncle told you?" Chloe gasped.

"Of course. You know I was pretty excited to meet you, I was even impressed in the tunnel but hiding in that bloody room, working yourself to death to try to avoid dealing with the situation. That is pathetic and weak, and I don't think that you are that girl", his tone was cold but his eyes were warm.

Chloe's jaw wobbled but she wouldn't let herself seem weak in front of him. She tried to tell herself that it was just because of the pain in her side and not because of his words or because she knew that they were true.

"You see, this is exactly what I mean", he gestured to her. "You think that not crying after everything you have been through makes you strong when really it just makes you even more vulnerable".

She still tried to keep her jaw firm.

"You tried to run away from the problem, hiding in your room behind your computer screen and where has it got you? Has there been a single moment that you haven't thought about what you have lost? Has there been a single moment of happiness?" He demanded, as he loomed over her.

She shook her head.

"And now you are in such bad shape, so tired, so under nourished that you can't even run for 30 minutes on the treadmill without having to get off and then falling over with a stitch in your side", he indicated to where she was holding.

"Yeah well I don't care that much about physical fitness", she groused.

"Well I do, now come on", he took her hand and hauled her to her feet none too gently. "Your stitch will go faster if you keep moving", he wrapped an arm around her waist and forced her to walk.

"Urgh!"

"Very articulate and here I was told that you had the word smith thing going on", he smiled at her.

"Well I have given up on a lot of things lately", she snarked.

"Your health should not be one of them", he replied sombrely.

"I bet that my u… father would be interested to hear the way that you are speaking to me this way", Chloe said lightly.

Pretending not to notice her near slip, "I think that he would just be happy to see that you are out of your room and with a new look to boot", he nodded at her head. "Interesting colour choices, by the way".

"He would probably be more impressed by the fact that I just graduated", she shot back.

"Maybe", he shrugged. "What are you going to do now?" He tried to ignore the gnawing in the pit of his stomach at the information that she had graduate so quickly. He knew that she had been working herself too hard but that was ridiculous, he should have intervened sooner. If he weren't careful then his head would roll. If Chloe was protected and healthy then he would be richly rewarded, if not then he would spend the rest of his life in a place that made prison look like paradise.

"I'm not sure but I'll figure it out", Chloe replied.

"Well I have a suggestions", that got her attention. "Someone very powerful suggested that you would hide yourself away and finished all of your work within a few months and that afterwards you would need something to do."

She tried to remain calm, he could only mean Lex. "What did he suggest?"

The dark eyes noted her reaction to the reference to the billionaire, "He suggested that you would like to learn some more foreign languages".

Chloe's eyes went wide. "How did he know?" She asked but did not expect to receive an answer. Worryingly it did not surprise her that he had thought about her, considered what she would like but she never expected him to work it out. How could he have known? She had never told anyone that. Everyone knew that Chloe Sullivan knew Latin and that she wanted to be a reporter but not that she wanted to travel the world and know more and read more. She had studied some languages at school but thirsted for more.

"I can't leave the compound, so how would that work?" She wondered.

"That part's easy, the military and the civil service have the best private language teachers in the world and you will have full access to them here. It will be hard work but it should take your mind off things, 9am-6pm six days a week", he told her.

"That would be good", Chloe admitted as they walked around the room for the second time.

"Stitch any better?" He asked.

"Yes thank-you", she dodged out from under his arm. She had used to consider herself a fairly open girl, she Clark and Pete had always been putting their arms around each other but now it made her feel antsy. It was odd considering the number of times a day she wished that she had someone to hold.

"Do you want to get back into shape?" He asked her.

"Of course, although I think that that might take some time. Good job that the army has a gym isn't it?" She tried to joke, her hand still over her stomach although the pain had gone.

"Not that long, I go to the gym every morning at 5am. If you wanted to work out without being seen that would be the best time to go, then from 6-7:30am I would be happy to help train you", he said.

"Train me?" Chloe looked up at him in confusion.

He stopped walking and turned to her, "Yes _Lucy_. You are never going to stop being afraid until you learn how to take care of yourself properly, let me help you get back on your feet".

Chloe looked up at him; he was tall with broad shoulders and as horrible as he had been to her at some points that day she knew that he meant well. She knew that she should say yes although she wanted to run back to her room so she nodded quickly before her courage could desert her completely.

"Good", he smiled. "Now I'll take you back to your room to shower and change. Today you are dining in the officer's mess. Being cooped up isn't good for you".

An hour later she sat next to him and opposite several other officers who she recognised from the tunnel as a large plate of food was placed before her.

"Eat it all, if you want to train like a solider you have to eat like a solider", her dark eyed solider informed her.

"You think that Bloom there is bad to you, you should see him with everyone else", an officer with an English accent informed her before extending his hand, "Dru Zod at your service Ms Lane".

"You're just mad because he caught you sneaking in with that redhead last week", the third man at their table laughed before also extending his hand to Chloe, "Victor Stone".

"Nice to meet you both", Chloe smiled at them, "I'm Lucy Lane".

"We know", they both smiled at her, then Victor added, "Damn how much steak and potatoes did Bloom give you? That plate weighs more than you do".

"Yeah, I had noticed that too".

It had turned out to be a good thing that Davis had loaded her up so much, the following day's training session had almost killed her. She had known that she was out of shape but even when she had been in shape she didn't think that she had ever worked out like that. Although it did keep her mind off things, as did the intensive language training. By the time that she went to have her dinner at 7pm before collapsing into bed at 9pm she had been half dead. Still it was nice to be surrounded by people. That had become her routine for the next few months.

She had still felt lonely, she had still been frightened but it had been better. Exercise had become a way of life for her and the second that Chloe found herself alone in her new bedroom in the mansion she had been unable to help herself but went to the gym for a workout, even before unpacking.

That was where she was when Lex found her covered in sweat.

"That's a good look for you", he announced from the doorway where he stood observing her.

Chloe snapped to attention, her eyes keen and suspicious. She could hardly believe that she had already relaxed so much in the mansion that she had allowed herself to get caught up in her own thoughts, normally that never happened. Especially not in the last four months, during which time she had been so tightly wound that she had thought that she might explode.

She relaxed slightly as she saw Lex and, replaying the disruption in her head, realised what he had said. She fought her natural inclination to gasp at his presence and the fact that he was flirting with her. She knew that he didn't mean anything by it but just having him there made her feel like she had when she was in High School.

An energy which she hadn't felt in years coursed through her veins and she strove to control it. She wasn't a teenager anymore, she had been through a lot in since she had left Smallville and learned a lot too … and part of that was how to handle men.

"So I'm told", she smirked at him. "So do you work out or have people to do that for you?"

He smiled, and straightened entering the room properly, "I still do some things for myself".

She raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"Fucking for example", he said as he sat down across from her and began to work on his upper arms.

Chloe just said "Hmm" as she started on the cross trainer again, trying to ignore the way his arms bulged as he worked the muscles in them. He really had very nice arms; they were perfectly toned and looked warm and strong but not overly buff. She did not think that she had seen him arms bare before, it was a shame that t-shirts were not normal work wear for Luthors, as he could probably have got a lot of contracts signed just because people were too distracted to negotiate terms.

"Something you find distracting Chloe?" He quirked an eyebrow at her.

"No, of course not", she turned pink. This was ridiculous, she hadn't blushed in years.

The devilish grin he shot her told her that she had been caught out. Well two could play at that game, she increased her tempo slightly and noted the smouldering glint in his eyes.

"Something you find distracting Lex?" She challenged.

"Yes, your breasts namely", Lex replied.

She turned even pinker. How did he make her feel like a High School girl again? He was supposed to be the one getting uncomfortable, not her. And those arms were still extremely tempting.

"Men are so predictable", she informed him dryly.

"Our interests possibly, but I promise you that I could find some interesting variations on a theme", he was still so bloody cocky.

She rolled her eyes. "That's what they all say".

Lex stopped smirking at that although he seemed to stare at her even harder. "That's what they all say", could have just been a comeback. It had to just be a comeback. All of the time that she had been in the army barracks she hadn't had a boyfriend, had she? He hadn't seen one but she had found the cameras in her room. Was it possible that … No, she was just pulling his leg. He observed her desperate to notice some sign that would confirm this decision.

Chloe tried to look supremely innocent and unruffled under his scrutiny. She wouldn't look at him, she wouldn't. Even as she thought this she was certain that she could feel his gaze on her, tempting her to pay him attention. She looked instead at the door, at the sign on the wall, at another machine, at the machine he was on and then finally at him.

"Going to keep staring at me all afternoon?" She snapped and then wanted to kick herself; this was his house after all and she was just a guest. He had every right to look wherever he damned well pleased.

"Going to keep avoiding eye contact all afternoon?" He asked in reply, not taking offense at her words or her tone; as far as he was concerned she was completely within her rights to be irked by his staring at her, regardless of whose house they were in.

Chloe wanted to deny that that was what she was doing but then thought that that would be ridiculous as she was quite clearly avoiding looking at his face whenever possible.

"You don't avoid eye contact with anyone else", he pointed out.

"You have seen me interact with relatively few other people", she noted.

"True, but you had no problem looking at Clark", Lex pushed the issue.

"He was my best friend before I left", Chloe reminded him.

"But you didn't have that much to do with his parents, I mean, did you really see them that much more than you saw me, especially nearing the end?" He asked, moving the topic along. He wanted an answer.

"No, but they are …" she struggled to find the words and finally had to settle for, "different".

"How so?" He wondered. There were hundreds of differences, but she knew what she meant.

Chloe refused to look directly at him. Lex sighed, he recognised her tells now. He stopped working out, got up and walked over to her. He placed his hands over the tops of the handles forcing her to come to a stop and then moved his hands down over Chloe's.

Her breathing quickened, her first impulse was to pull away from him even though she knew herself to be in no danger.

"Chloe", his voice was low and brooked no disobedience, "look at me".

As if of their own volition, her eyes did as they were told.

"Tell me why you are so uncomfortable around me. You aren't afraid of me are you?"

"No, of course not", she replied shaking her head in earnest.

"You know that I would never hurt you", he watched as she nodded her head. "You think that I betrayed you?" He asked cautiously.

"Don't be so stupid", she snapped looking appalled at him." You didn't betray me, I was the one who let you down". There, it was out before she had even realised what she was saying.

"What? Chloe", he demanded, "what are you talking about?"

"You know that I let you down", she replied wondering whether she could yank her hands away and run, she did not want to have this conversation.

"No you bloody didn't!" He growled, he gripped her hands more tightly but not enough to hurt her.

Chloe felt the squeeze and realising that she couldn't escape bowed her head and reminded him, "Lex I came to you telling you that I could get your father put in prison and asking for help because I couldn't get out of the quagmire (of my own making) on my own. Then I almost got you killed, you had to intervene and save my Dad and I, you parted with so much money to protect us and you didn't even get the testimony from me that you wanted."

Lex could hardly believe his ears, that she could feel guilty about what had happened was incredible to him. "Chloe I was the one who wouldn't let you give that testimony, I know that you were willing to do it and either way we did get him put away".

"Yes, but you wouldn't let me because you knew that I was too weak", she replied without thinking and Lex's eyes filled with disbelief. "I saw that look on your face the day that I left, I saw the disgust in your eyes - I could read how disappointed you were in me. You have always been a good judge of character and able to sum people up, you are the one person I am sure can see inside me and I don't want to see myself reflected in your eyes or for anyone else to see it either".

"If you read that then you need glasses. I didn't let you go to court because it wasn't safe. That was the only reason, your bravery was never called into question", Lex started as he tried to get his head around the new information.

She looked at him disbelievingly.

"Chloe", he released her hands and cupped her face, ignoring the shudder that went through her at such an intimate action. "I don't know whether or not I can see you better than anyone else, but I sincerely hope that I can". Being this open with someone did not come naturally to him but he knew that if he was going to try to get her to open up then he owed her the same. "Believe me, you have nothing to fear from what you might see in my eyes or what anyone else might see through them".

Her eyes widened a little as she searched his to see if he was telling her the truth or just trying to comfort her. She did not like to think of how many times she had been brought to tears thinking of him sitting in his office, drinking a scotch and sneering at the idea that he had ever trusted her. She had always just assumed that he must think as badly of her as she did.

"You were brilliant", he assured her as she brushed his hand down the side of her face. "I was always sorry that you got caught up into all of this drama between my father and I, but it isn't strange that he would think about you. You did the right thing to get out of the situation and come to me. You put a monster behind bars, and as far as the money, I never cared about that. All that I cared about was how much potential was wasted, how sad you must have been when you were taken away. I always thought that I let you down, that I should have killed him …"

"No", she almost shouted, "never think that. You would never have forgiven yourself if you did that, you did the right thing letting the law take care of him".

His heart went out to her, after all she had been through she was still so sweet … although delightfully snarky. "The day that you were taken, I was so impressed but that image has haunted me", he confessed, not knowing why.

"Well, it is all over now. And I am fine", Chloe managed a small smile.

Lex mirrored her expression, but didn't tell her that he knew the truth. He knew that she wasn't fine and that she was hanging onto herself by a thread. He certainly didn't tell her how much of her life in the barracks he had witnessed, until she disappeared. He felt his need to know what had happened to her rear its head again but attempted to squash it; they have made enough progress for one day and he wouldn't get any further pushing her at that moment.

Chloe swallowed. She felt better, elated but the heat from his hands was almost making her shake. She wanted to make him step away from her without offending him or making herself look weak, she smirked. "One question that has always plagued me, how much stamina does Lex Luthor's really have?"

He grinned. He knew exactly what she was doing but was happy to play along. "Plenty", he extended his hand to her to help her off the cross trainer. He led her over to the running machines.

"Ready, get, set go!"

"I still maintain that I let you win".

"Sure you did", Chloe smiled over at Lex as he held out her chair and she sank into it. "You forget, I have trained with the army … men who could bench press you".

He ignored the thought of those men around her as he had seen many of her training sessions and knew that they had not touched her, except when sparing.

"Well technique is more important than brute strength", he gave her a cheeky look as he took his seat on the other side of the table.

"I agree", Chloe gave him a seductive smile before ruining the effect by giggling.

That look killed him. If he ever found out who had taught her to flirt like that he was going to have to kill them. She was far too tempting now, not that it had been particularly easy before.

As he stared over at her he was seized once more by the urge to rush over to her, take her in his arms and never let her go. He was so relieved to have her back. He had been in hell thinking that something had happened to her, it seemed almost too good to be true that she was back and living under his roof. He would be able to see her every day and help her heal.

She was dressed in jeans and a fitted polo neck, casual but gorgeous. If she were wearing new clothes then he wondered if she had unpacked, when he had gone to her room earlier he had not found her and had noticed that her suitcases remained untouched – just before he went to find her in the gym.

"Had the chance to unpack yet?" He asked.

"No, not yet. Why do you ask?" Chloe wondered.

"No reason, I just wondered if you wanted me to send a maid up and if you would have any time free after dinner", he pretended to be interested in his dinner but kept one eye on her at all times.

"What did you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise".

"Alright", Chloe agreed without thinking, she trusted him. God that was worrying, the one person in the whole world she trusted was Lex Luthor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It had taken months for Chloe to learn to relax on the base, but eventually she had managed it. Well, relax might have been too strong a word, not to resemble a ticking time bomb might have been closer to the truth. But either way, she no longer found the noise outside her room to be a disruption but rather it soothed her, reminding her that she was not completely alone. Now that Lionel was in jail and all attempts to have the trial overturned had failed the restrictions were a little less severe; although she had not met her father face to face since the day that she had been taken, she had been able to call him every night.

At first this had made things worse. She had sat with the phone in her hand sobbing as she tried to say everything that she wanted to say to him but not being able to, however eventually she had calmed down and now they spoke every night.

It had been two months now since she had graduated and started her training and she could feel herself getting stronger in every way. Every morning she got up and after changing into her sportswear opened the door and found Davis waiting for her. Together they would walk to the gym where she could not actually complete a full circuit of the gym next to her new mentor before going over to the sparing mats. She was getting better at fighting too. She had thought that she had had skills before but they were nothing compared to Davis' knowledge. She spent most of her time on her ass, but she was learning and one day was certain that she would get the jump on him.

Then she would get cleaned up, everyday noticing the changes in her body as she did so. When the last lot of dye had washed out of her hair she had ordered better ones and makeup. She had decided to go auburn and enjoyed her new more fitted clothes.

At breakfast she would banter with the same officers she had spoken to on her first day out of her room. She was becoming more and more confident, more the Chloe of old … although, of course, she was now Lucy. Sitting in the canteen was an odd experience, at first she had been worried by all of the noises around them- constantly thinking that someone was going to jump out at her -, but now she was so used to them that she knew what was going on around the entire canteen. Chloe knew if something was out of place before anyone else did and as long as she was completely in control of her environment – or at least knew everything that was happening in it – she could deal.

The only times that she felt really scared where when one of the men accidently made contact with her. She did not mind it when she was sparing with Davis because she was expecting it, but in normal situations she hated it. The months that she had spent locked up had really done a number on her.

As grateful as she was to now have people to speak to a full hour of it was very wearing and it was a relief to leave the canteen and go to her language lessons where there was only one other person to deal with. Once she was there there was no room to think about anything else. Her brain was so occupied with learning the grammar – and often complaining how illogical their grammars and vocabularies were!

She was half dead by dinner time – she ate lunch in the classroom with her teacher as they never really had a break. Finally she got to collapse into a chair and eat her dinner, only half listening to what the others said until it was time to go and speak to her father and go to bed.

Her father wanted to hear about everything that had happened in her day and was in fact the person who had suggested that she should start going for walks around the base. She had told Victor about this plan as she thought that he was the most likely to help her and had not been disappointed. From then on, every night after dinner but before her phone call one of them would walk her around the base. It was interesting to have them point out what everything was until she knew the lay out of the base as well as any of the soldiers; in fact she was sure that she could see some ways of getting around the base without being detected.

One night just after they had returned an idea occurred to her - she should go around the base by herself. Davis was always talking about how much he wanted her to feel safe and the truth was that she wouldn't feel safe until she knew that she could go out by herself. She opened her door and poked her head around the side, there was no sign of a guard anymore now that Lionel was definitely not getting out. She breathed a sigh of relief and began to make her way down the hallways, avoiding the security cameras as best as she could. She wouldn't actually go outside the base, she knew that that would not be safe but there was no reason why she couldn't go on her nightly walk again only this time un-chaperoned.

As she heard her boots fall on the tiles, Chloe felt her heart rate increase. She shuddered; although she knew herself to be alone she couldn't not help the hairs standing up on her neck or the knot in her stomach alerting her to danger. She shook herself, she was just being silly. Too many hours of enforced solitude and nightmares about Lionel had sent her mad and apparently two months wasn't enough to get over that. She was on a military base for crying out loud, she was completely safe. And so, she forced herself to keep walking rather than running back to her room. This was ridiculous, she had been running around by herself since she was a kid, there was no reason for her to be scared now, especially when she was beyond safe.

"Where do you think that you are going?" A voice behind her asked, bringing her up short.

"Damn it", she swore. She was so used to feeling constantly afraid that she had ignored her body the one time that it had really sensed danger … or at least another person. She wondered who it was, it couldn't be one of the officers as she didn't recognise the voice. Still, she turned around anyway putting on her bravest face.

It was a lower ranking solider, she recognised him from around but wasn't sure exactly who he was. It didn't matter. Everyone on the base knew that the General's daughter was there so there was no reason why she shouldn't be walking around there.

"I asked you a question", he took a step closer to her.

"And you will notice that I decided not to answer", Chloe raised her chin and gave him a look of supreme hauteur. She knew that that was not the way that he was supposed to speak to the daughter of a three star general, she was damned sure that no one had ever spoken to Lois like that. Her first instinct had been to run but there was still a vein of the real Chloe in her, and Chloe Sullivan didn't run from some trumped up solider.

He snorted and advanced on her.

Chloe threw a glance over her shoulder and realised that even if she did run down the hallway now she would be trapped within minutes. She did not like the way that this man was looking at her. She had been the only woman on a military base for months, over the last weeks she had become used to getting looks from the men that she passed but none of them had been as disrespectful as this one, none of them had made her feel as cheap and dirty as this one did either.

"Don't approach me", she ordered him, her voice not quite holding the level of authority she had been aiming for.

He just laughed, "You are trying to give me orders? That's rich coming from a girl being kept on a military base because her Daddy is too worried about what she might get up to if she was let loose".

She shuddered, not just because she was starting to think that he really might mean her harm but also because she realised that that was the way that people would view the real Lucy and because of that people would try to take advantage of her. What might this man not try to do if he ever came across her?

"You forget yourself", Chloe bristled.

"And you forget your place", he reached out to grab her wrists, pulling her to him, "give me a kiss".

Davis' training came to her in an instant. She stamped her heel down on his boot, although it did not make much of an impression her next kick to his shin caused him to loosen his grip. She jammed the heel of her hand up into his chin as she had been shown and heard him scream as his jaw was dislocated and he bit his tongue. Chloe moved back and aimed a kick to the back of his knees, causing him to fall.

The adrenalin was pulsing through her veins.

"Who the fuck are you to talk to me that way", she yelled.

He was on the floor now on his hands and knees, spitting up blood, but Chloe was not going to let him get away with this. She was sick and tired of being weak, of being moved around without her knowledge or consent. She had had enough.

She grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.

"You do not fucking speak to me in that way and you never touch me", at that she back handed him across the face.

For the first time in over a year she felt powerful, she wasn't afraid of anything not even loosing herself in her new identity.

"I am Lucy Lane, daughter of a three star general and if you ever come near me again they will have to use your dental records to identify your body", she growled before turning and walking back to her room. She only got two paces before she came face to face with Dru.

Chloe sat next to Lex in his car as they sped along the roads into the centre of Smallville. She had given up asking where they were going as it was clear that Lex had no intention of telling her until they arrived. The truth was, that was fine with Chloe.

She looked out of her window at the corn fields as they whizzed by. Every so often she would see a farm house light up in the darkness, looking warm and inviting. It was hard to believe that anything could ever go wrong in a place like that. It was how she had always seen Clark's home as a child, the perfect family home where there were no problems. She imagined that even when Clark had been told his family of her death that despair could never really have taken hold of a house like that, Jonathan would have made some speech about heaven and they would all have felt better and gone on with their lives. Suffering and real feelings were something reserved for people like Lex and her.

It was very easy to imagine Lex wandering around his mansion with thoughts that actually bothered him. Hell, that was how she had always seen him before she had gone away. She was pleased to see that the man who now sat next to her looked far more sanguine than he had when she had first laid eyes on him that morning. The moment that he had realised who she was, she thought that she had seen him grow as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he had stayed like that so far. She hoped that he would never go back to the way that he had been before.

The idea that he had felt that he had in some way let her down was hard for her fathom, but it had clearly affected him. She was glad that they had spoken so frankly earlier, the fact that he was not disappointed with her made her happier than she could ever say … but she knew that there were many things that they would never be able to say; Lex would blame himself if he knew and think her weak and despicable.

Besides, Chloe had never been one to share her private thoughts, she always just shut down and buried herself in work. Well she supposed that once Lex put her to work tomorrow she would be able to do that again. She tried to look out of the window again but found herself being too distracted. Lex's car was very comfortable, and nice and warm considering the frost sparkling on the ground outside. Her car was nice as well but it didn't smell right, it had that new car smell. This car smelled like Lex, like she had remembered Lex smelling all of those times she was alone and it made her feel safe.

It was strange to think that Lex had come to mean so much to her over the last few years when she hadn't seen him once during all of that time. She had always been fascinated with him, but from the day that he had promised to protect her he had taken on the role of a knight in shining armour to her. That day in the tunnels he had been her hero.

She blushed a little at this thought and looked over at Lex to see whether he had noticed. He had been periodically looking over at her throughout the drive and happened to be doing so at that point. Thinking that he might be about to ask what she was blushing about or worse think that she was imaging something naughty between them, she tried to think of something to distract him.

"Are we nearly there yet?" She asked in a sing song voice.

"No, not yet", he smirked. He had noticed the blush. He thought about pressing the issue but thought better of it so he asked, "Fancy some music?"

"Sure", Chloe leant forwards to play with his stereo. She wondered what songs he had, what kind of music he liked. "Any of it not classical music?"

"Selection F", he said with a smile.

Chloe clicked it on and selected F, wondering what it was. "Let me guess, Kylie?"

"Not quite".

_Every single day I got a heartache coming my way  
I don't wanna say goodbye baby  
But look at the tears in my eyes_

"Free, nice", Chloe leant back in her seat and tried not to join in with the song.

"I am surprised that you know of them", Lex watched her as she unconsciously wriggled her hips as if she wanted to dance.

"Yeah, my Dad loved this band as a teen. I found his LP collection when I was a kid and refused to give them back", Chloe grinned, mouthing the words to the song.

_I don't wanna say goodbye mama  
But look at the way you made me cry  
Every way that's nice you show  
You've got a heart that's made of ice  
And I know_

"Being locked up stops you singing?"

She flushed, having being caught. "No, but I don't sing in front of other people – with the exception of karaoke – unless they join in".

Lex was about to point out that he had already heard her singing, and seen her dancing around her bedroom in her bra and panties once she had moved to Europe, but thought better of it. "All together then", he said wondering if there was anything that woman couldn't get him to do. He began to belt the song out:

_Fire and water  
Must have made you there daughter  
You've got what it takes_

Once she had stopped laughing, she joined in.

_To make a poor man's heart break  
A poor man's heart break_

Then the song changed.

_All I need is a friend  
Someone to give a helpin' hand  
When I'm afraid in the night  
Someone to squeeze me  
And tell me it's alright  
You know I worry such a lot  
And I would give all I've got  
Just to have someone believe in me  
Just to do that and put me  
Back on evenly._

"Well, this is awkward".

_Baby, baby, be my friend  
Baby, baby, be my friend  
Baby, baby, be my friend  
I will love you till the end._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Here we are", Lex said as he pulled into the car park of The Talon.

"This place is still open?" Chloe asked in surprise, trying to ignore the knots forming in her stomach as she thought about going in there and being surrounded by so many people she didn't know.

"Yes", Lex turned off the car and put the key in his pocket. "Lana sold me her interest in the business when she moved to France but she couldn't hack it abroad after all. When she came back she asked for her job back and continued to work here throughout college, she is the full time manager now and refuses to let it be closed down". He observed her closely to see her response to hearing about her old friend, and wondered if hearing that Lana hadn't survived abroad would give Chloe a bit of an ego boost as she had not only survived, she had thrived in the harsh conditions.

"So, is Lana going to be in there tonight?" Chloe asked, trying to brace herself.

"Yes, probably. I called her and told her about the situation. You have to get used to going into crowded places. The Talon won't be too bad tonight, only a few people. We can go in, get coffee and then go down to the theatre which we will have all to ourselves", Lex explained.

Chloe smiled. It was very sweet of him to have thought of this, he was clearly trying to help she just wished that she didn't need the help; she hated feeling weak.

"Well, I can go through a lot for a good cup of coffee", she gave him a brave smile.

He wanted to reach over and squeeze her hand but he didn't, he just got out of the car and watched as Chloe did the same before he the chance to go around and open the door for her.

"Ready?" He asked as they reached the door.

Chloe nodded and he assured her, "It will be alright", before opening the door to the coffee shop. As she entered her former hang out, a wave of nostalgia hit her. The aroma of coffee tantalised her nostrils and she heard the familiar sounds of students chatting away. She looked around her, nothing had changed except for the people.

Lex placed his hand on her lower back causing her to jump, but she tried to overcome the reaction as the gentle pressure did reassure her and urged her forwards. Together they made their way over to the counter.

"Our usual's please", Lex said to Lana's back, "and some of those double chocolate chip cookies", he added as he noticed them sitting on the counter top.

Lana had been anxious all day. When Clark had stopped by that morning to say that Chloe was back from the dead Lana had had to sit down, she had wondered if maybe Clark had been imagining things because that simply couldn't be true. She had loved Chloe like a sister and had thrown up when she had heard of her death all of those years ago. She couldn't believe that she had been so selfish throughout their friendship.

Chloe had loved Clark and yet she had made overtures of friendship to Lana, she had allowed her to stay with her and her father even when it would have been easier for her to just let Lana leave, and how had Lana repaid her? She had accused her basically of being a bad friend and untrustworthy. She had gone out with Clark even though she knew how much Chloe had loved him. She made everything about her.

She hadn't known what to do, she had returned for Chloe's funeral but found it just as hard to be there as it had been in France. Everything reminded her of Chloe. Everything reminded her of what a bad friend she had been. She had been thinking of leaving to go and stay with her aunt Nell until she had met Lex at the funeral. He had given her a note that Chloe had told him to pass along in the case of her death.

Lana blinked back tears as she thought of it. Chloe had known that she and her father were about to die and she hadn't told Lana. Instead she had chosen to go through all of that alone rather than burdening others with her problems and in the last few days before her 'death' she had been thinking of everyone else. The letter had been so sweet telling Lana how much she meant to her and how she would always be her sister and in such a role she had to do something for her, she had to love Clark.

A tear slipped down her cheek but Lana brushed it away, only Chloe would have done something like that.

When Clark had told her that Chloe was back she hadn't dared to believe it but when Lex had called later that day to tell her to prepare the cinema for him and Chloe that night she had knew that it must be true; Lex wouldn't be wrong.

Ever since then she had been running around The Talon hoping to get everything ready. She wanted to ask so many questions but had been warned by Lex not to. He said that when she saw Chloe she was to greet her, tell her how happy she was to see her alive and well, give her a brief hug and ask to make plans for later in the week. She was not, under any circumstances, to ask where she had been, talk about her change in appearance or crowd her if she valued The Talon and the Kent farm – both of which could be bulldozed within the hour if Lex were displeased.

Now the moment had arrived. Lana turned around with a smile plastered on her face. "Chloe", she gasped as she laid eyes on her friend, her sister. She could see why Lex had warned her about not commenting on her appearance, it was rather striking. She was beautiful, but auburn and probably weighed less than Lana did now.

"I can't believe it", she rounded the corner of the counter and embraced her friend, never wanting to let go - it was only the look that Lex gave her which made her do so, even though she could feel that Chloe barely returned the hug.

"I am so happy that you're back, we thought that you were dead". Chloe definitely looked uncomfortable. Lana noticed that as she returned behind the counter Chloe seemed to relax and didn't look too bothered by Lex's presence.

"Anything you want, on the house", she said as she started to make their coffees and get their biscuits.

"Thank-you", Chloe said, finally finding her voice. "It is good to see you again too".

Lex's gaze kept flicking between the two girls. He knew that he had to make sure that Chloe kept interacting with people but he wanted to be sure that he could control those meetings, at least to start with. This was going to be a huge adjustment for her.

"Maybe you could come by the manor later in the week", Lex suggested.

"That would be great", Lana enthused, "is that where you are staying?"

"Yes, for the moment. Lex has a job for me for two months", Chloe explained pleased that she was finally starting to be able to speak in full sentences without it sounding stilted.

"That's great", Lana said, wondering if she would ever be able to think of a new word.

"Here's your order", she said handing them on a tray to Lex. "Everything is prepared for you downstairs. I'll see you later. Chloe, it really is great to see you. I am sorry for the things that I said before you left, I …"

"It's fine, you were right. I did stick my nose where it didn't belong and it very nearly cost me my life", Chloe shrugged.

Goodness Lana felt terrible. "Everything is alright now though, isn't it?"

"Yes, of course", the smile was perfect. She could have been on an advert for a shampoo, "I am back in Smallville and Lionel is dead. What could possibly be wrong?"

As if in answer someone burst out laughing and Chloe jerked. Her eyes wide and panicked, then increasingly nervous as she looked at Lana and realised that she had noticed.

Lana didn't care what Lex said, she was at her friend's side in a minute and had wrapped her in her arms. "It will be alright, we will make it alright", she comforted her and she clung to her. Lex was about to intervene as he noticed Chloe become even tenser but after a minute she began to relax and mumbled back, "I know".

As Lex and Chloe entered the theatre and locked the door after them Lex kept the lights on and walked around the entire area checking everywhere. They both knew that there was nothing to be afraid of but that she wouldn't be able to sit and relax until they had performed these checks.

"Private theatre, nice", Chloe joked as she watched him checking around and felt herself calming down slightly. She wrapped her arms around her when Lana had held her. It had felt odd, but not unwelcome.

"Only the best when you go out with Lex Luthor", he smirked as he returned to her and took a remote out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I even bequeath you the control over the remote".

Chloe gasped, "Never in the entire history of the world has that happened before".

"I know, and it probably won't happen ever again, so be sure to use it wisely", he warned her.

With a nod Chloe started pressing buttons until the screen came to life and gave a list of films they could watch. "Did you choose these?" She asked incredulously.

"No", Lex shook his head. "Lana did. I haven't even heard of some of them but I did suggest a few".

"This was very sweet of you".

"Hey, you know that I'm not sweet", his disgruntled expression was so cute that Chloe wanted desperately to hug him but refrained, but only just.

"I'm sorry, that was very strong and manly of you", her eyes sparkled with mirth.

He gave a shrug. People didn't normally thank him for things; they normally assumed that he had some ulterior motive – which he normally did.

"What made you do all of this?" She wondered as she noticed the snacks and drinks set out in front of two particularly comfortable chairs with throws over them. It made Chloe was to giggle, as if the coffee and cookies weren't enough, she was starting to get the impression that Lex might be trying to fatten her up.

Lex thrust his hands into his pockets. "I thought of all of the things that you had missed out on and I wanted to try to give some of them back to you. I know that this isn't the way that you would have preferred to go to the pictures and that you would have preferred to be with Clark but I also know that you are not ready for that _yet_. Being surrounded by darkness and that many people would probably do you more harm than good".

He had not meant to talk about what she had been through that night but the topic seemed to keep coming up.

"You know that none of this was necessary, I am not your responsibility", Chloe informed him, hoping to relieve some of the burden he clearly felt and so was somewhat surprised to see his face fall rather than looking relieved.

"Which is what makes this all so much sweeter, sorry I meant manlier", she teased him, covering her tracks. She didn't want to hurt him.

"You know I can cancel all of this", he offered.

"No no I'll be good, I promise", she crossed her heart.

"Alight", he couldn't help but grin. He felt like a kid on his first date. He offered her his arm and she took it and they went to sit themselves down.

"Lex", she started. She wanted to ask him about how much he knew of what had happened to her but as she looked over at him her courage failed her and so, instead, she inquired, "Which one would you like to watch?"

"Whichever you prefer", he answered, rather than saying simply 'you'.

"Clueless followed by How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days it is then", she gave him her most mischievous grin.

"Ah, indulging my penchant for blondes".

"I thought that you liked brunettes".

"It varies".

Lex had heard of Clueless before but never actually seen it. It was a rather novel adaptation of Emma – no pun intended –, but he found himself watching Chloe more than the film. At first when the lights had gone down she had been tense, her eyes darted around the room continuously and without thinking Lex had reached over and taken her hand. She had frozen, her breathing stopping completely for a minute. He was about to remove his hand when he noticed that her eyes were fixed on the screen, she clearly did not want him to notice her reaction and so he stayed still of a few moments longer. Eventually her breathing returned to normal, once she had got over the shock from his touch and the panic it caused, she seemed to have been calmed by it.

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled as he felt her return the gesture. Only as the movie progressed did a new idea occur to him. She was sitting bolt upright still and if touch did seem to sooth her eventually maybe he should try again. She would have to get used to it sooner rather than later and here she wouldn't have to be embarrassed by her reactions in the dark.

As Cher came on to Christian in the movie, Lex slowly removed his hand from hers and pretended to yawn, and stretch. His arm was around the back of her chair, not very subtly.

He heard Chloe giggled, she didn't take her eyes off the screen but asked, "Are you trying to put the move on me?"

"My my aren't we conceited? I was just stretching", Lex replied, "Darling when I put the move on you, you will know about it". Even as he said it he wrapped his arm around her shoulder pulling her over into his chest slightly. It felt awkward, not just because he had not been that tactile with her before this but also because she remained rigid although letting him pull her.

If he concentrated he was fairly certain that he could feel her heart beating a thousand times a second but he kept his hold on her, stroking her arm gently and trying to keep his own breathing steady as if that would somehow calm her. It seemed to work.

By the end of the film Chloe was cuddled up to him.

She breathed in his smell, felt the warmth of his body. She hadn't been hugged by anyone other than her father in 5 years before that day – and even then only once or twice a year. She was not used to this intimacy although she knew well of other kinds.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"I can't believe that you actually stayed here when you had the chance to leave", Chloe laughed as they made their way through the halls of the manor. "I mean, don't get me wrong it's a nice place you have here but I thought that you hated Smallville".

Lex shrugged. "I had to stay at first to make sure that Clark was alright but then I moved full time to Metropolis before deciding that that wouldn't work and that I would be better off dividing my time between the two locations. I thought that it would be easier to live in the city where nothing would remind me of you, but it didn't work".

"Was he?"

He stopped walking and looked at her in some confusion. "Was who what?"

"Was Clark alright, after my death I mean", Chloe voiced the question she had never dared speak out loud before. She didn't want people to be sad over her death, she had wanted Clark and Lana to get on with their lives but she did wonder whether she had left any sort of indentation on their lives at all. She could not help but remember how quickly Pete had been forgotten when he had left and how lots of people died in Smallville and no one ever mentioned them again.

"No", Lex answered her honestly. "How could he be?" He watched her expression intently and couldn't help but smile, "It is alright to be happy that you were missed, even if you are sad that you caused them pain".

"I know, it just seems so selfish", Chloe said with a shake of her head.

"It isn't, everyone wants to know that they made a difference and you certainly did, you only have to have seen you funeral to know that". Seeing her looking at him questioning Lex, continued, "It was huge".

He hated to think about that day, the day when they had said goodbye to her but she needed to know how much she had been valued.

"Every business in the town shut down and everyone turned up. Every single inhabitant of this damned small town knew who you were, they said that you were always after the story and spoke about your smile and your lively enthusiasm. So many of them said that just seeing you and reading your articles had inspired them and made them feel like they knew you", he rubbed his hand over his head. "It was really rather touching, but it was worse for the people who actually knew you".

"You don't have to go on if you don't want to, I know that it must have been difficult for you to pretend in front of that many people", Chloe considered her actions for a moment before reaching out and placing a hand on his arm.

"No, it's okay. You need to hear this. No, it wasn't easy. All that morning I sat in the Church as people filed in and out, watching them grieve and knowing that I was responsible. You weren't dead but you might as well have been for all you got to do. I just kept seeing that image of you as you got into the helicopter, so brave but so forlorn. I thought of you sitting by yourself on some army base somewhere scared and alone and thought: 'this is all my fault. Chloe should be here, with these people being loved not mourned and the only reason why she is not is because I asked her to put herself between the FBI and my father'", Lex looked down in shame. "I am so sorry; I should never have done that to you. I should have dealt with him, that day as I sat there I actually worked out how long it would take me to get to my father, how long it would take to kill him and get you out of there … and yet I did nothing".

"Lex", Chloe voice was sharp as she placed her hand underneath his chin and forced him to look up at her, ignoring the soft warmth of his skin beneath her fingers.

"We have been over this", she reminded him. "You know that none of this was your fault, it was all mine. If I had not been selfish, stupid … if I had not spied on Clark then none of this would ever have happened. And I would never have wanted you to commit murder for me. I couldn't stand it if you had that on your conscience".

He stared at her, trying to work out how someone could possibly be so sweet after everything she had been through.

"You are amazing", he told her as he cupped her face. She was so caught up in him that she did not flinch this time.

"No, I'm not. Tell me what happened".

Trying to recall himself to the task at hand, Lex went through the day for her, describing what had happened, who had come and what they had said until he got to the Kents. "Clark just sat there, repeating over and over again that it was his fault with his mother trying to comfort him and Pete on the other side saying that he couldn't have known although I am not sure what he couldn't have known about".

Chloe nodded, "I didn't know that Pete had attended".

"Not only did he attend he gave a stirring speech about what the Luthors had done to you", Lex told her ruefully, "at least he was right for once".

She shook her head, "He shouldn't have done that. It had nothing to do with you".

"Other members of your family don't share that opinion. Your cousin Lois was there and made it quite clear that she blamed me and was going to get to the bottom of it", Lex explained. "That almost got her into trouble a few times, but her investigations turned up nothing new. In the end she turned her snooping skills onto Clark".

"Did you do the same?" Chloe asked, clearly worried and looking guilty as she thought of her cousin who she still had not called, she didn't know how to yet.

"No, I did as you asked in the note you left me. I stopped investigating Clark", Lex assured her. "Can I ask you why you …"

With a nod she replied, "Interfering in other people's lives was what got me in trouble in the first place and I could see that it was going to lead you down the same path. I wanted you to have the benefit of Clark's friendship and I thought that my asking you if I ended up dead might be the only way to stop you from throwing everything away".

It was his turn to nod, acknowledging that how well she knew him and his obsessive tendencies. "Chloe I promise that even if the answer is yes I won't ask any questions and I won't do any research but … did you ever find out the truth?"

"Yes", she answered instinctively trusting him. "A few days before the trial it all just fitted together, I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen it before and I felt so guilty".

"I'm sorry".

She gave him a sad smile, "You see now you are believing your own press, you might be a Luthor but you are not responsible for everything bad that happens in the world. You are certainly not responsible for my stupid actions".

"We make a good pair don't we", he smiled tenderly back as he put his hands on her shoulders, "both only realising what the right thing to do was once it was already too late".

Chloe looked up at him, they were only inches apart now. "What was the right thing to do?"

Lex swallowed, he had not been expecting that question. For years he had sworn that if he ever got the chance to speak to her face to face again that he was not going to let his pride get in the way but now it was overwhelming, as was his fear that he might scare her off.

"I should have been a better friend to you", he hedged. "From the first day that I met you I knew that you were special and for that reason I avoided you; afraid that somehow my Luthor ways would hurt you or that I would fall for you when you were still a teenager. I shouldn't have let anything come between us, I should have spoken to you about every topic I could think of, should have seen you every day".

Her eyes widened as she replayed that speech over in her mind wondering if she had somehow misheard him. She could not have just heard what she thought that she had heard. There was no way that Lex Luthor could have been interested in her. She should demure and step back but she found herself asking, "And what about now?"

"You aren't a teenager anymore and I intend to see you every day and speak to you every day", his voice was thick with emotion and he was within an ace of pulling her into his arms and kissing her senseless.

"I'm not the same girl I was when I left", Chloe protested a little, breathlessly.

"You are still Chloe".

Lex paced the hallway outside Chloe's bedroom. This was truly pathetic. He wasn't some love stuck kid teenager, he was Lex Luthor for crying out loud. It wasn't even as if he had got a kiss from her, just a smile. That wonderful, sweet, goofy smile that warmed him in the depths of his soul.

He should go back to his room but he could not help but be drawn to her. He wanted to know whether she was fast asleep or if maybe she was awake too and thinking about him. He couldn't see any traces of light so he assumed that she must be asleep (although he thought that she slept with the light on) and was about to turn back around and head back to his room, considering that it was quite late after two movies - so it wasn't that strange that she was asleep - when he heard a muffled noise.

Straining to hear, he thought that he could hear her whimper.

"Chloe", he called out as he knocked on her door gently, "Are you alright?"

There was another sound, this time it sounded as if she wanted to scream but was smothered.

In an instant Lex had pulled the master key from his pocket and Chloe's door was swinging open.

One year into Chloe Sullivan's incarceration she was moved and she had never been happier. She knew of the political reasons for their move but was still thrilled to be moving to England along with her uncle, Davis, Dru and Victor. She was getting used to her daily routine but still longed to have a change of air and what was more she knew that her father had been sent to England.

It didn't bother her that it had been pouring down the rain as they landed in the dead of night on a secret flight from the states, it didn't bother her that it was constantly grey and overcast, all that mattered to her was that she was soon going to see her father, of that she was sure.

She had been correct. Chloe was given two days to settle in, to sleep off her jet lag and to get into her routine of training and learning before one morning after breakfast she went to meet her language tutor only to find Gabe Sullivan sitting there instead.

Everything that she had learned in their time apart about being self-sufficient disappeared and she threw herself into his arms screaming, "Daddy". Their reunion was a tearful, hug filled one and took most of the day. Chloe had never been so delighted in her life, nor quite so heartbroken when her Uncle came in to tell her that it was time for her Dad to go.

Chloe had tried to be strong, she really had as Victor and Dru shot her sympathetic looks. She had to be strong for her father, but as he left so had her strength. She had slumped to the floor and sobbed. She had thought that they would be together again for good. She had not realised that it would only be for a few hours.

Just as she had been getting herself together her uncle had popped her head around the door and told her that he too was going, along with Victor and Dru, as there had been an emergency abroad and that Davis would look after her from that point on.

By that point Chloe had not cried, after several hours of constant heart wrenching sobs over her father having been taken from her again, nothing could faze her.

"Fine, go", was all that she had said. The three men had left her and Davis had come in to see her.

"It gets easier, or so I hear. Being away from your family", he told her.

Chloe hadn't responded to that, but Davis had been right. She had never cried again when someone had left her, at least not while awake. She just got back up to her feet and got on with life. She never talked about her life with anyone except for on her father's rare visits; she just trained and learned now even more isolated. The only person in her life – other than her father over the phone – was Davis. It was strange that she could rely so completely on someone she knew absolutely nothing about. It was easier to know nothing about him in some ways, if he weren't a human then he could not be doubted.

He was her rock, he never really showed emotion but he was always there. He taught her how to fight even better, how to shoot a gun and how to sneak around even better than she had been able to before. He taught her to distance herself from people. She no longer touched people ever except for sparing; she did not even shake their hands. It was easier to pretend that people didn't really exist when there was no contact and if they didn't exist then it wouldn't hurt when they left.

It didn't hurt when they moved to Ireland, by this point she was too strong to care where she was. Ireland wasn't that different from England for Chloe, the only difference was that when they got there Davis started disappearing for days at a time leaving her only with her language tutor and to go back to eating in her room. It was only when she decided to go into the canteen even if it was by herself that she started to meet someone knew. But he would leave her too, only in a more permanent manner.

As Lex made his way into Chloe's room he pushed the door to and heard it locking automatically, at least this way he could be sure that that would not be interrupted. He was relieved to note that she was not being attacked, nor did she appear to be having a fit but the look of agony on her lovely features chilled him to the core.

He knew that she would hate for him to see her like this, but he couldn't leave her.

"Chloe", he called out to her gently as he approached her bed.

Her bedside lamp was still on, as he had suspected that it would be. The light from it had peeked out from beneath her room in the barracks he knew, but this one was too large for the light to reach that far.

The covers had been pushed down to her waist and her taunt stomach was reveal as her white cotton top had ridden up as she thrashed around. Her breasts heaved as she fought for breath over the sobs which seemed to choke her.

"Chloe", he repeated her name as he drew nearer, not sure what to do. He was not aware that anyone had ever noticed these symptoms in her before, but the guards on her door had been taken off several years ago and there was no reason he supposed that people should know if she went through this every night. He paled at the thought.

Her hands were flying around her body writhed, he was getting really worried that she might hurt herself.

Seeing that she had not responded when he had said her name he made his decision, he would have to restrain her. He grabbed her wrists hoping that this would snap her out of it rather than waking her and making her worse, but it did neither. Chloe continued to claw, just less efficiently. Afraid lest he damage her wrists as she flailed about; Lex tried to lay his body on top of hers to stop her but this just made her worse, now seeming scared.

Starting to panic Lex let go of her wrists, grabbed her around the waist and lay back pulling her on top of him. As soon as her body realised that he was no longer on top of her she calmed slightly. He held her close, stilling her movements.

She started to make the noises he had heard through the door again, only this time he could make out that they were words.

"Dun liv me", she begged, to someone in her dream. "Dun liv me".

"Shh", he stroked her hair. "It's okay I'm here, I'm not going to leave you Chloe. I'm here". Still asleep and clearly gripped by a nightmare she buried her face into his chest, her hands holding onto him painfully.

"I'm zory. Dun liv me", she whimpered through her tears.

"It's alright I'm not going to leave you. I'm never going to leave you", he reassured her, tightening his grip around her and putting up with the pain her nails digging into him was causing.

"What happened to you Chloe?" He wondered as he continued whisper soothing words to her and was relieved to see that she seemed to be calming down.

"I don't know how much of this you can hear or how much you will remember Chloe but I swear that I am not going to leave you, I am not going to let you go again. You are mine, all mine".


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Lex stared at the clock, it was 7am. He should have been up two hours ago, if he didn't do something soon then people would start looking for him but he couldn't tear himself away. He lay there in Chloe's room, in her bed with her lithe feminine form pressed against him.

He looked around the room, trying to find something to distract him. It was a nice room, clean and tastefully decorated. He knew that it was good, otherwise he wouldn't have given it to Chloe but this was his first time seeing it from this angle. Chloe moved slightly reminding him of his position very acutely.

There was nothing to distract him in the room and so he turned his attention to the bed spread, very nice, silk … oh hell no bedspread was nice enough to distract him from the fact that Chloe was in his arms and had been all night long. Actually, he doubted that the entire chorus of Victoria's Secret models parading around in front of him in their skimpiest lingerie could have distracted him.

Chloe's auburn hair fell across her face and touched his chest, Lex brushed the hair gently back so that he could see her now tranquil expression. She looked so peaceful in her sleep, he wished that she could always be as tranquil as she was now. That was not the case for him. He was tense all over and the occasional sigh she let slip was doing nothing to help the situation.

He had never been a cuddler; he was more of the wam bam thank-you ma'am mentality. In fact, he normally wasn't even there the next morning so he would never have had the chance to cuddle, but with Chloe he thought that he could be converted very quickly. There was absolutely nothing unpleasant about being in this position, except for the fact that even after she woke up he would not get any satisfaction.

Her lush body pressed against him. He could feel her breasts through the thin white material of her t-shirt and feel the warm skin of her back where his hand rested on her bare flesh. The top kept moving riding up in her sleep. It took all of his self-control not to let his hand slip lower to her pantie covered rear. He could feel her toned legs as one was slung across him, stopping him from getting away – not that he was trying.

Lex took the hand that had been playing with her hair and placed it back over hers, which was placed on his chest. He felt a pang as he watched his large hand cover her delicate, slender fingers. He thought about how easily he could hurt her, he should pull away now … Chloe shifted against him.

"Oh God", he groaned as her thigh grazed against him.

"Mmm", Chloe moaned, seeming to bestir herself a little.

He stayed still, trying to even breathe more slowly. He had been wondering how he would get out of this but now the opportunity was beginning to present itself, he couldn't bear to let her go. He might never get this chance again and on a less selfish note, he thought that she needed the sleep.

Even though Chloe had calmed down considerably when he had held her, the nightmares had not completely left her. For well over an hour she had fidgeted begging him not to leave her again, begging him to come back her. Even after that she had sniffled a little. Lex had spent most of the night watching her and stroking her hair, which she seemed to like. Luckily, possibly due to the meteor shower, Lex needed only two hours of sleep to be able to function perfectly.

His stillness seemed to bother rather than sooth her. She mumbled something unintelligible and rubbed her face against him. It seemed to take a few moments for her to realise that she was not snuggled up to a pillow. Slowly she raised her head.

The room was bathed in slow light from the bedside lamp and so she could quite easily make out the male form beneath her.

"Good morning Chloe", Lex said trying to sound normal, well as normal as he could considering that this was the first time that he had slept with a woman where the only thing that he had done was sleep. And that he was now laying under her sporting a raging hard on which he hoped to God she wouldn't notice. He was going to make this as easy for her as possible.

"Lex?" She lifted herself up apparently not realising that she was using his chest to do so. As she did this Lex was treated to a very nice view. The white t-shirt had now ridden up so far that a glimpse of the underneath of her breast was visible on one side, as was her perfect stomach down to her French cut lacy panties and lean thighs. It was with supreme difficulty that he supressed a growl of desire.

"Trying to ask politely what the fuck I am doing here, seeing as it is my house?" Lex inquired trying to be as calm as possible; he had no intention of making this more difficult for her than absolutely necessary.

"Something like that", she replied, before following his gaze and blushing. She tried to pull her shirt down only to fall slightly, as she couldn't sit up in that position without using her arms.

"Here", he said and pulled the t-shirt down so that she was covered. "Better?" He asked.

"Um … yeah. Thanks", she said uncomfortably, suddenly very aware that she was straddling him. Lex took her hips in his hands and gently helped her off him and sat up next to her, revealing more of his torso to her.

"No problem. Look I know that this must seem a bit strange to you, but I promise you that nothing happened, I didn't come in here with the intention of forcing you into …"

"I know", Chloe cut him off. "I would never think that you would do something like that, I am just a little confused".

Lex smiled, it was nice to be trusted. "Last night I was passing by your room", he neglected to say why, "and I thought that I heard something. I knocked on the door to see if you were alright but you make a sort of smothered crying sound and I … I know that it sounds silly now but I thought that maybe you were being attacked or had fallen or something. I called your name again but when I got no answer I came in and found you in the midst of a nightmare".

Chloe hadn't jumped down his throat for the impertinence of entering her room whatever the reason or the fact that he had a key to her room – she just took both of those things as being normal – so he was encouraged and continued.

"I went over to you and tried to wake you up but it seemed to grip you more powerfully than a normal nightmare. It was nearer to those ones I had after Julian's death", he said taking a deep breath. "You were thrashing about and I was afraid that you were going to hurt yourself so I tried to restrain you but that just seemed to make you worse. You seemed to think that you were being attacked".

She swallowed guiltily, hoping that he wasn't going to ask her about that. He burned to do so but refrained … for now.

"I'm not really sure how, but we ended up with you on top, clawing at me and begging me not to leave you. I held you and you seemed to calm down", Lex explained.

Chloe looked down at his chest. He was extremely well made, firm and well defined although now decorated with scratch marks.

"I'm sorry".

"Don't be, I consider it a privilege to spend the night in the company of a gorgeous woman, and then to wake up being straddled and to have the scratch marks to prove it … well let's just say that if they were down my back I would have to find an excuse to go around bare chested just to show off in front of Clark", he grinned at her smugly imaging the look on Clark's face when he was informed that Chloe was 'a wild cat in the sack'. He wondered whether he could manage to pull that off with the scratched on the front.

Chloe let out a bark of laughter, "I don't think that Clark would care, now if they had been from Lana…"

"I wouldn't put it passed him … Wait, why are we talking about Clark in bed?" Lex gave a shudder, "Aren't I enough for you woman?" He demanded in mock outrage.

She laughed.

It was like music to his ears.

"I really am sorry Lex. You just got suckered into my night-time silliness and …"

"It's not silliness", Lex was firm. "You have been through a hell of a lot, it is only natural that you have nightmares occasionally, and if I can be here and act as your clawing post then I am only too happy to apply for the position".

She smiled, almost nervously. "This isn't going to make working together too awkward, is it?"

"It doesn't have to. We can forget all about this if you want, but I will always be here if you want to talk. I see no problem with being your friend and your boss", he said, hoping that that didn't sound too presumptuous.

Chloe smiled at him again, a real smile this time. It reached all the way to her eyes.

"I think that that sounds like an excellent plan", she followed his line of trying to make the situation less awkward by trying to joke around. "And at least I have the distinction of being the first woman to spend the night with Lex Luthor and have nothing happen".

"The even more impressive distinction of being the only woman I have ever waked up with", he said without knowing why.

"Same here", she said before realising what she had let slip and turning red.

Lex raised his eyebrows at this. The fact that she was wearing a man's t-shirt and had been begging a man not to leave her in her dreams, had not escaped him. He had spent a good portion of last night trying to work out who it was. From something she had said the day before, he guessed that she wasn't a virgin anymore although he could not work out for the life of him who it had been.

For a time he had thought that it might have been Davis, but the t-shirt was nowhere near big enough to be his, he realised now that he could see that it only made it a quarter of the way down her perfect thighs. Who did that leave? He longed to ask her but knew that that would not get him the information that he desired.

"You never wake up with women?" He joked.

"No, they normally leave after the sex part", Chloe said with a shrug and a teasing look at him as she lay back on the pillows.

"You are kidding, right?" He checked.

"What do you think? Can you not see me laid out beneath a leggy brunette with perky tits and firm ass?" Her fingers trailed down her throat down the valley between her breasts, "Being touched?" She continued, "Kissed?" She gave him her most seductive look. "Licked?" She licked her lips.

"Oh God stop", he groaned.

Chloe guffawed. She seemed to think it so funny that she actually ended up turned over with her head buried in a pillow as she screamed with laughter and beat her fists and legs against the mattress.

"You really find this funny, don't you?" He questioned.

She nodded and finally, between giggles and gasps for breath said, "The look. On your. Face. I only. Meant. To get you back. For. Checking. Me out. An' give you. Nice image. To make up for. The trouble. Last night. Didn't. Think. You would. Look. Like. Like. That".

"Well enjoy the power while it lasts little one because there is something that you should know", he rolled over so that he could run his hand over her shoulder and down her back and whisper into her ear, "we Luthors play dirty and", he gave her behind a pat, "we know where the coffee is".


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Freshly dressed and made-up (and having finished the coffee which Lex had had sent to her room once he had left) Chloe made her way through the winding hallways of the Luthor mansion glad of her good memory and sense of direction. She headed towards the kitchen in search of sustenance; she had just over ten minutes before Lex told her to meet him in his office.

Outside the kitchen she paused, she wasn't sure if she should knock. Part of her felt that she should, but then she remembered how Lex had introduced her to the staff that they had seen the day before. She was his personal guest and he had made it quite clear that she was to be treated as if she were a Luthor and a Luthor would never knock.

She opened the door slightly and looked around.

"Miss Sullivan", one of the maids notices her and walked over to the door to hold it open for her, "Is there anything that we can do for you?"

"I just wanted to grab something to eat before starting work", she explained as she was ushered inside and a chair was pulled out of her at the breakfast bar.

Chloe looked around the enormous room, her father had been something of a cook when she was younger and would have salivated over most of those appliances – the bread maker was almost as large as their oven had been. There were several other maids in the room and someone who looked like a chef talking as he worked to … Lex.

He smiled over at her, "You know when I told you to be ready on time, that was for breakfast, not work. I wasn't going to suggest that you start at that time".

"Oh". Damn, now he was going to think that she was greedy, she thought. As if she had to eat in the morning rather than it being optional.

Lex smiled at her with amusement, "Care to join me? The chef here has been attempting to outdo himself today. I didn't know what you liked to eat, other than coffee and muffins. Although I know that you changed over to healthier options".

"That did used to be my favourite", Chloe admitted. Touched that he cared enough to have thought about what her favourite was, although the fact that he knew about her changed eating habits had not escaped her. Exactly how much did he know about her life? Why? And how much had he controlled?

"Well a range of healthy protein packed muffins and breakfast biscuits have been prepared, along with fruit and a collection of cereals and milks. You like unsweetened almond milk, right?" He checked.

"Yeah, I like unsweetened almond milk but you didn't have to go to all of this trouble just over my breakfast", she felt a little embarrassed.

"No trouble, I just order things, I don't make them", he smirked.

"I know, I was talking to the chef", she smirked in reply.

"You know I am more than capable of ordering them to only serve you liver, cabbage and brussell sprouts", he tried to look stern.

"No you are not, everyone knows that Lex Luthor is just a great big softy", she teased.

The staff had been trying to ignore the conversation, not thinking that it was meant for their ears but at that taunt there was a collective gasp and all eyes became fixed upon Lex.

He was not unaware of their audience, but was more interested in Chloe. If she thought that he would let her get away with that just because they were – semi – in public, she was very much mistaken. Lex remained where he was, leaning against the counter, enjoying the tension in the air. He noticed Chloe lick her lips over slightly and raised an eyebrow before straightening and fixing her with the look that made most people cower.

Chloe did not cower, if anything his reaction just caused her spine to straighten and added a glint to her eye.

"Miss Sullivan", he asked as he stalked over to her, "would you care to repeat that?"

"If I must", she said, trying to stop her heart rate increasing.

His smirk broadened.

"Everyone knows", she said as he wrapped his arm around her waist, "that you are a great", he gave her a tug, "big", he brushed an imaginary strand of hair out of her eyes, "softy", he pulled her into him so that they were pressed together.

Chloe knew that he was just messing around. She had half expected him to take her to task over calling him a softy in front of his staff – or anyone else come to think of it –, but that he didn't mean for her to be intimidated by his peacocking and it was probably just one of his ways of getting her used to contact again … the odd thing was that she wasn't afraid of being near him. Well, that wasn't really that odd. She had not really been afraid of physical contact before – especially not with him – just a little wary. It had not felt like something normal, but now it felt perfectly natural. Maybe it had something to do with her having being wrapped up in his arms all night long.

"Is that so?" his voice was low and sent a thrill down her spine.

"Yes", her hands were resting on his abs from where he had pulled her. She ran her hands up his torso, "see soft… almost wobbly in fact".

He growled.

"See now your tummy is getting all growly", she continued to tease.

Lex laughed, he couldn't help it but then he tried to get a hold of himself before giving her a light push backwards. "I'll show you growly".

They were sat around the table set out in the office.

"Always an over achiever Lex?" she wondered as she saw just how much he had had prepared.

"I try", he grinned back, not taking her teasing seriously.

Chloe was almost sad not to get a rise out of him, "You know what I really fancy?"

"What?"

"Egg white frittata".

The one thing that he hadn't thought up, "I will call the chef".

"No Lex, I was kidding", she said, worried that she might actually have hurt his feelings, "It was just the only thing that I didn't see on the table so I thought that I would opt for that, didn't want you getting too cocky after you had done something so nice. I am not doing a good job of reinforcing the whole 'it's nice to be nice' philosophy, am I?"

"If being nice means that I get to share your company then I think that you are doing a very good job", he answered.

She blushed and wanted to kick herself. She had to learn to get used to his flirting with her.

"Yeah, well unfortunately I go for bad boys", she said with a mock serious face as she studied the produce.

Lex wondered what kind of boys she had experience of, he did not know of any … unless Davis Bloom had tried something. He would have to make a call later and make sure that he did indeed know all. Focus, he rebuked himself, he couldn't let a perfectly good opportunity to flirt with her.

"Well I am a Luthor after all. That isn't bad enough for you?"

"Well Luthors are bad, I suppose …" she ignored what Lionel had done to her, "but I like a man who gets his hands dirty, not one who pays someone else to do his dirty work".

Lex licked his lips, as he reached out and took an apple to start his breakfast. "I told you that I still do my own love making so I can only assume that you are trying to provoke me into a demonstration".

She watched as he rolled the fruit around in his finger, strong, pianist fingers.

Chloe swallowed. She wanted to shake her head and tell him that that wasn't what she had been trying to do at all, but then she decided that she was enjoying this game far too much to end it. "So what if I am?"

There it was; that damned smirk.

"Anytime, anywhere sweetheart, just say the word", he took a bite out of his apple.

God, he should work for Granny Smith, Chloe thought to herself as he appeared to have to lick some of the juice off one of his fingers. He could have made millions in advertising, not that he needed any more millions of course.

"Ummm …"

Chloe heard the noise but it took her a few seconds to realise from whose throat it had originated; she was shocked to discover that it had been her own.

"Was that a yes?"

"No, it was a yummy noise", Chloe covered as she grabbed a muffin and bit into it, "delicious" she commented and it was Lex's turn to have an undesired reaction.

Their breakfast concluded, they made their way over to Lex's desk and as they sat on opposite sides Chloe was reminded that she was in fact there to work and worried that her earlier conduct had been inappropriate – not just the waking up with her boss, which she couldn't help, but the teasing and the soft comment. She squared her shoulders as Lex opened his laptop and hoped that she looked professional enough. She had opted for her best suit and limited jewellery.

She wanted to show Lex that she could help him. She knew that the other day he had said that she would be of tremendous help but she also knew that a large part of this was about helping her. She wanted to make sure that he came out of this deal better off than she did.

"What I am about to tell you Chloe is in the strictest of confidence, I will not only expect you to keep everything I tell you to yourself, I will expect you to only research it from this office and from that computer", with that he pointed over to the other desk which had magically appeared since the night before. It was very large, well light, with a good sturdy chair and what looked like the newest laptop available. Chloe tried not to drool as she tore her focus from it and back to Lex.

"Of course", she said with a short nod. It did not escape her that it was strange to think that Lex was willing to trust her to keep a secret.

"Good", he smiled.

"Whilst I have decided that I do not wish to run for President at the moment as I see little advantage to it, I want to know how I would go about doing it and which of the current candidates are best suited to the job", he stared at her, she did not look horrified by the idea.

"You want to see if there is one of them that you can manage so that you have the limited advantages of being in the White House without actually having to be in the White House", Chloe finished for him.

"Anyone else working that out and I would be impressed, from you I expect nothing less".

Chloe wished that she did not feel warm and tingly at his sort of compliment.

"I don't want you to tell me what you think that I want to hear. I want the facts – the ones that are common knowledge and the ones that no one else knows -, even if that spells bad news for me. I want to know everything about each of the candidates, as well as what popular opinion is. On top of that I want to know what you believe is going to happen with them, how you think that they will be manipulated and how you think that we can get the upper hand", he watched her as she almost salivated.

"I want you to look into absolutely everything, you start to sniff out a scandal then you are to uncover it … but only from within this office where I can be sure that you won't get in trouble. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Crystal", Chloe replied, "but I will need to leave the office to go through town records and things", she pointed out.

"I can get you all of those things untraceably online", Lex assured her. "Any problems with anything that I am asking you to do?"

"How do you feel about me hacking into the Pentagon?" She wondered.

"You can do that?"

"Of course", she shrugged, "my record is 4 minutes 43 seconds".

"I'm impressed", Lex admitted. "Hack away as far as I am concerned as long as you do it from in here so that you cannot be tracked, although I would of course protect you were you found out using another computer, but I would rather keep you off the radar as much as possible".

"Works for me", Chloe happily complied.

"Any other questions?" Lex asked, not sure why he was surprised that she was taking all of this so calmly. Everyone else looked aghast when he even mentioned going into politics in any capacity.

"Why did you choose me for this? I am sure that there are hundreds of companies that could find out all of this information for you".

"Indeed there are, in fact I have employed a good deal of them and they turn up good information not to mention dirt but they don't have your eye for detail nor your understanding of the situation", he explained.

She looked at him in some confusion.

"I know what some of your research projects were on while you were away", he explained.

Chloe paled a little.

Chloe screamed, leapt out of her seat and attempted to hit her attacker.

"Woo", Lex put up his hands as he took a large step back, "it's okay Chloe, it's just me".

She looked dazedly at him for a moment before seeming to remember who he was and where she was. With a mumbled apology she dropped out of her fighting stance and he noticed her put her hand to her heart to see how fast it was beating.

"I'm sorry about that; I didn't mean to scare you", he apologised.

"That's alright", Chloe said turning from him to hit the save button.

"I did call your name several times before tapping you on the shoulder", Lex informed her. Although he was sorry to have scared her, he was secretly a little delighted that she had clearly felt safe enough with him in the room to let her guard down so far that she had got caught up in her research. He had watched her when she had been in her room in other places, and had noticed that she had never truly relaxed.

"Oh sorry, you know how I get when I go into research mode", Chloe said, wanting to kick herself for saying something so stupid. How on earth would Lex know what she was like when she was in research mode? He had been Clark's friend before she had left, not hers.

"I was just coming to tell you that it's three o'clock Chloe", Lex explained.

"Oh, thank-you", Chloe said sitting back down at her computer, clearly not realising the significance of him telling her what the time was.

He smiled. "The implication being that as you have been sitting there working without a break since 9 am so it is probably time for you to have a break … if not stop completely for the day. You appear to have done a week's work there", he motioned to the computer screen as he read over her shoulder.

Chloe had indeed not realised that it was three o'clock although now that she was not actively engrossed in her research and the effect of the shock was starting to wear off, she did start to notice that she was a little tired – her eyes and shoulders particularly. She rolled her shoulder a little as she backed up her work.

"I'm not sure that it is a week's worth but it is certainly very interesting. Quite frankly Lex, I think that Lionel could run against some of these people - if even half of what they have done were known - and win looking positively holy", she gave a shudder but stopped to roll her shoulder again.

"Impressive, my people came up with very little", Lex said placing his hands on her shoulders, noting that she tensed but only for a moment.

"Yes, well going through adoption records is something of a speciality for me", Chloe said as she clicked on one of the files. "This man here sold his children on the black market and then brought a new one a few years later when it looked like having a child could enhance his political career".

"The bastard".

"Indeed, but it gets worse. An average child would not really pass muster so he funding some very dangerous experimental projects which involved taking children who showed promise, making their parents think that they had just been the victims of accidents, then putting them in a ruthless training program. Most of them didn't survive", she broke off.

He squeezed her shoulders, trying to offer what comfort he could and noticed the knots hidden by her jacket.

She took a deep breath and continued, "But some did. He took the cutest one and adopted it, really photogenic".

Lex rubbed her shoulders almost absentmindedly, trying to offer her comfort. As he felt her relax against her will he continued, he didn't have the words to make any of that better.

"He won't get into power", Lex assured her.

"I know that I gave you a hard time about some of you and your father's projects in the past, the truth serum, the lab … but if you have anything underhand like that still lying around …"

"He will find himself in one", Lex promised, "and any children we find will be returned to their families where possible with all the help that we can provide for them".

Chloe closed her hand over Lex's.

"For what it's worth, I think that you would make a great President".

He looked down at her. For a minute their gazes locked, until Chloe turned away.

"Wow, that was really unprofessional. As if waking up with you weren't enough …"

"Chloe, don't", he said. "Don't worry about it. I know that I am your boss for the next two months, but I always intend on being your friend … even if you don't accept it. So don't worry about it".

She smiled at him.

"Well then friend, care to join me on my coffee break? We can whinge about our bosses", she gave him a wink.

"I would love to, although I did have something planned for a little later if you are willing to trust me. I think that it is something that you need, even if you are afraid at first".

"Sounds interesting".


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"So what is that you need my trust for?" Chloe wondered as Lex led her back into the office and saw that it had been cleaned up and that there was afternoon tea set out on the coffee table. She had been wondering what he had planned for the last hour as they had eaten their snack and walked around the garden. She had asked him about it a few times, but each time he had just told her that she would have to wait and see.

"You will just have to wait and see", he told her again, but Chloe noticed that he seemed a little nervous.

"Come on Lex, out with it. You'll feel better", Chloe coaxed him.

He closed the door and then ran his hand over his head, "Maybe", he admitted.

"Let's sit down", Chloe said, she took his hand surprised at the gesture and how naturally it came to her.

As they sank down he started, "I have been wondering all day whether I'm doing the right thing".

Chloe made to pull her hand out of his grasp.

"No", he placed his other hand over hers to keep her in place, "not about you being here. Having you in my life … it is right. No room for doubt about that", he said. Even as he said this he could practically hear his father in his ear, rebuking him for showing his emotions and weakness. It was only by reminding himself how his father had turned out and that he didn't want that for himself that Lex made himself continue.

"I never doubt my decisions, I always know what to do in any business situation but this is more complicated. I have been going over it all day, sometimes thinking that I have made the right decision that it is something that you need to be forced to do and at other times I think that it should be your decision and yours alone", he tried to explained.

"Have you made a decision?" Chloe asked, wondering what he was talking about.

"I guess I have", he admitted, "I haven't called off the meeting but I am starting to think that it would be a good idea to prepare you for it, although then that would just give you more time to get nervous and …"

"So you thought that you would just take this all on your shoulders and be nervous instead of me?" Chloe asked, unable to suppress a giggle. She couldn't deny that she was a little irritated that he had apparently made a very large decision for her – even though she didn't know what it was yet – she was gratified to see that he did at least seem to know that it wasn't entirely his place to make such decisions. She felt that she needed to comfort him now, she could bug him about being controlling later.

"Something like that, I didn't want you to be nervous", he explained.

"Well I am not at all nervous now", she kid him. "Come on Lex, just tell me … I trust you".

"Lois is coming to see me in about 20 minutes", he blurted out.

"Lois?" Chloe gasped.

"Yes, look I know that it really isn't my place and if you feel like I have over stepped some boundary then …"

"No, it's okay", she said in barely more than a whisper as she thought of her cousin. She had wanted to call Lois for so long, since she had been put on that helicopter in fact. When she had returned one of the first things she had thought of doing was calling her cousin but she just didn't know how. If she just called her then she might not even believe that it was really Chloe, she could hang up even more hurt than before.

"I thought of going over to her apartment, I even looked up her address but …"

"You didn't know how to start a conversation like that", he finished for her. "That was what I figured, hence my setting up this meeting with Lois. I thought that I would even prepare her a little, she had been bugging me for information for years and I have always tried my best to throw her off the scent without hurting her too much".

"Thank-you for that, I know that it can't have been easy …" Once again Chloe was having problems finding the words, she was beginning to think that she should visit a doctor. It was not normal for her to be at a loss for words.

"She was hurt, of course and I'm sorry that I couldn't find a way around it", Lex found himself really bothered by the fact that he had upset a member of Chloe's family. He found himself remembering his pre-Smallville days fondly when he cared about no one's feelings but his own.

"I told you before, none of this is your fault, you are going to have to start believing me at some point you know", she gave him a nudge.

"I didn't mean to back you into a situation you weren't comfortable with. I was going to explain to Lois what happened and then give you the opportunity to see her if you wanted", Lex ignored her trying to make him feel better.

"Thank-you", she squeezed his hand. "You did the right thing. I had given myself a deadline, if I didn't think of the right way to do it by the end of tomorrow I was going to ask you to come with me to Lois' apartment to see her. You just beat me to the punch. God I hope that she doesn't take it too badly".

He was touched that she had thought of him. His heart swelled.

"I am sure that she will be thrilled to see you and she is made of strong stuff. The Kents were wrong, you know. When they implied that Lois had eventually given up, it wasn't true. She never believed that you were really dead. She kept thinking that there was some way that you might have survived, that I might be holding you somewhere, she thought that maybe I was torturing you".

"Oh God Lex, I'm so sorry", she apologised rubbing his arm.

""Don't be. You deserve to be loved that much".

"So do you", she said without thinking.

He was uncomfortable. "Well, um Lois never gave up on you, not really. I tried to persuade her that I didn't have you and that you weren't being harmed but I am fairly certain that she has never given up hope".

A tear trickled down Chloe's cheek. "The thing is, that when I teamed up with Lionel the only person I wanted to hurt was Clark and it looks like he is the only one I didn't manage to hurt. I guess that being bad really does come back to bite you in the ass, I just didn't know that it would use other people to do it".

Lex pulled his hand out of Chloe's grip, but only so that he could wrap it around her shoulders.

"You had a few minutes of weakness, this is not your fault. My father clearly saw you as a way of getting to Clark and he would have found a way to get to you. If you hadn't given in that time then he would have thought of something else. He might have even escalated matters, you were still a minor. I could easily see him killing your father and taking you in 'out of the goodness of his heart' if nothing else had occurred to him. It could have been worse. Besides, everyone has their bad days", Lex said.

Chloe gave him a small smile, she knew that he at least really believed that. Just as he believed – however much she told him that it wasn't true – that this was all his fault and that he should have killed his father in order to save her.

"It's not true, you know".

"It's not true that everyone has their bad days?" Chloe asked.

"No, I mean it's not true that your disappearance didn't hurt Clark. It did, very much", he wasn't sure if he should be telling her this. He knew that the guilt would have an effect on her, but surely as she was already consumed by said guilt, at least she should know that Clark had cared about her.

"How did he find out?"

"I told him".

_Lex's BMW pulled up outside the Kent farm, he did not think that he had ever been so unhappy to be there. It was just after 5 o'clock but being summer that meant that there were still hours to go before bedtime. He had never had much fun as a teenager but he knew that for Clark that would mean that he was just finishing up his chores. He would probably go into The Talon later expecting to see his friends … although they wouldn't be there. Lana had gone to France. Pete had just gone and now Chloe …. He swallowed and ordered himself to keep it together. He at least knew the truth but he was going to have to make this convincing for Clark._

"_You aren't welcome here Lex", he heard Mr Kent's voice through his window and gritted his teeth. He slipped on his sun glasses and got out of the car._

"_I am well aware of that, but I need to speak with Clark", he walked around the older man._

"_I heard what you said", Jonathan tried to stop him. _

_Lex turned on his heel to face the farmer. "You know what Mr Kent, I am sick of it. Since the day I met you I have been nothing but nice, trying to ingratiate myself into your family. Time and time again I have proved myself, but you insist on believing that I am just like my father … even though I just had him thrown in jail. Or, do you really think that I am like my father?" He pretended to think, "You know, I don't think you do. You know that my father would destroy your farm and your family if you spoke to him like that." _

_Jonathan looked shocked, he was used to saying what he liked to people and they just had to take it, Lex, his wife, even Clark. What he said went!_

"_Let's get one thing straight, I am going to find Clark and I am going to talk to him before the six o'clock news, this is far too important for me to let some jumped up little farmer get in my way so either you back off or I will make you", Lex slipped his glasses down his nose. He had wanted to be able to hide his emotions but knew that the raw anger and hatred there would scare Kent._

"_I am going inside to see Martha", Jonathan mumbled._

"_Good", Lex sneered as he headed towards the barn and Clark's fortress of solitude._

_It seemed to take an unnaturally long time to get there; his legs seemed to be made of lead. As soon as he entered that barn he was going to have to lie to Clark and tell him that Chloe was dead._

"_Lex, what are you doing here?" Clark saw him coming from inside the barn; the doors were open. There was a note of accusation in his voice._

"_It's about Chloe", Lex got out immediately, he did not want to get into an argument about why he was there, he needed to get Clark's attention._

"_Is she alright?" Clark asked, standing in front of Lex all of a sudden._

_Lex shook his head._

"_Oh God, what did your father do to her?" Clark demanded, fearing the worse, "Is she in hospital?"_

_He shook his head again, he tried to force the words out but he couldn't._

"_She isn't … she can't be …" Clark too seemed unable to find the words – Chloe would have been very disappointed in both of them._

_Lex nodded. _

_They stood there like that for ages before Lex opened the bag that he had brought with him and took out two bottles of beer, one for himself and one for Clark. He handed the younger man one and went to sit on a bale of hay. He downed almost the entire contents of the first one without pulling a face – he had no idea how people drank dirty sock water and enjoyed it._

"_It was quick", he finally managed to get out. "The FBI took her to a safe house, but that is nothing compared to the Luthor ingenuity. She and her father were barely inside when the explosion happened. There were no remains and no evidence that they were thrown free of the blast. They are both gone"._

_At least he hadn't lied and he could tell that Clark knew this. He too drank his beer._

"_I should have protected her", Clark whispered, but Lex heard him._

"_How were you going to manage that?" Lex asked, "You may be strong Clark but it's not as if you are flame retardant. Besides Chloe would never have let you go with her, she felt bad enough about having dragged her father into all of this. She didn't want you involved as well"._

_Clark had never wanted to tell someone his secret so badly before, maybe he was meant to. If he had just told Chloe then none of this would ever have happened._

"_She thought about me?" Clark asked. "I have been such a jerk to her. I always just saw her as a friend, I didn't even realise that she had a crush on me for ages even though everyone else did. Then when I did find out I didn't treat it sensitively enough. I wasn't much of a friend to her this last year even though she was there for me all last summer when I had my problems. I should have been there for her. I should have protected her from Lionel. There should have been someone there to hold her hand"._

"_There was. I held her hand", Lex started on his next bottle. "It isn't your fault it's mine. I know what my father is capable of. I should have paid more attention to him, especially when he started to take an interest in Chloe but I convinced myself that she was just some unimportant girl and that my father would leave her alone if I didn't get involved but he didn't. I hurt her. I let her father have his job taken, I let her be threatened, even when I promised to protect her … I didn't"._

_Clark shook his head, "You weren't her friend, it wasn't your job. It was mine. Besides you did protect her, it was the FBI that fucked up". There earlier fight and differences were forgotten as far as Clark was concerned._

_Lex stared at his friend in shock; he had never heard the boy use language like that before._

"_If I had protected her as I ought, then she would be here with us right now. Bugging you into following some lead with her and teasing me about getting a toupee", in an uncharacteristic display of emotion he added, "God I wish that I could hear her telling me that I should get a toupee or a hair transplant. Hell, I would take her yelling at me for not protecting her if only I could hear her voice"._

"_You grew close with her", Clark noted as he two drank more. He had been so wrapped up in himself and Lana and in his fight with Lex he hadn't even noticed that Chloe had really needed him. Even in this conversation he had only just realised that Lex implied that he had been 'holding her hand' or helping her emotionally during this time._

_The billionaire shrugged. "I got to see her, who she really was. This young woman with all of the potential in the world who had fucked it up rather spectacularly. She somehow managed to be scared, loving – towards her family and friends -, angry but also smart and brave and determined all at the same time"._

"_She always was", Clark acknowledged. _

"_Yeah, I just ignored it", Lex admitted._

"_Why?"_

_Lex looked over at Clark, thinking that this admission was probably going to break the last glimmer of hope their friendship had. "Because she was 14", he answered simply._

"_Oh"._

"He didn't forget you. It wasn't something that he felt for a few days and then conveniently got over. He was willing to sacrifice Lana for you", Lex explained.

"I would never have asked him to do that", Chloe protested.

"I know, I saw the note you wrote to Lana", he rubbed her shoulder. "I don't think that I could have done something like that".

"When you really love or work out that you don't love someone it is easy", she admitted.

"Which was it for you?"

"Tell me about what has happened since then", Chloe prodded.

Seeing that she had no intention of answering his question, Lex continued, "Exactly what you wanted to happen. Lana came back and tried to start things up with Clark again, he refused at first after about a year he gave in. They were officially together when he left for MetU. He studied English in the end, much to everyone's surprise. He said that he had been inspired by you."

Chloe gave a small smile. "I knew that telling him about everything that I was reading would eventually get him into reading".

"He can read faster than anyone I've ever met", Lex admitted, "even faster than you. English only has class on Monday morning so he commuted, did the classes. Somehow by the end of Tuesday he had read all of the books and stayed on the farm to help his parents out. The rest of the time he worked as assistant football coach at Smallville High. He said that he wanted to help people"

He sighed, "He didn't want other teenagers to feel isolated, to be pushed around …"

"That's Clark for you, always noble. I am happy that he is doing well", Chloe smiled over at Lex. Of course she knew where he had gone to college and things like that – a very self-destructive habit of Chloe's was to keep tabs on her former friends and acquaintances - but it was different to hear it from someone who actually knew what was going on rather than just putting the pieces together from afar.

"Yeah, he is planning on being an English teacher as soon as his training finishes, what with some financial aid and his job he managed to get through without any major debts. He is thinking of building his own home in a few years", Lex said.

"That would be good", Chloe agreed, "he really loves it here".

"Yeah, I suppose that that is why he didn't take the football scholarship but I have to admit that I was shocked by that", Lex mused.

"I wasn't", Chloe said as she remembered figuring out Clark's secret, without meaning to, when she had been sat in her room working only a few days after being taken. She now understood a lot more and decided that she was willing to be a sacrifice if that meant that Lionel would not find out about Clark and his abilities. That meant that she could not call him, even though she knew that Clark would have been able to visit her without anyone ever knowing, what if the call was somehow traced. If someone started watching Clark because of it … She could not risk exposing Clark.

She sighed, she would have to visit Clark soon and tell him that she knew and that she didn't blame him for not protecting her, she knew that that would be eating him up.

"What do you know about Lois?" Chloe wondered, she looked over at the clock; they still had ten minutes until her cousin was supposed to arrive and she was getting extremely nervous.

"She's a pain in the ass", Lex told her with a dead pan expression.

"It's a family trait".

He smiled. "She cares about you a great deal. She came here a few months after your death was reported – she had been in Europe and that was as soon as she could make it back – and she was distraught. She wouldn't accept your death. She came here looking for clues every day but eventually got on with her life, although like I said before, she never truly stopped looking."

"I researched her", Chloe admitted and Lex didn't look shocked, "I know that she went to MetU like Clark".

"Yeah, she studied journalism in your honour and got an internship with the Inquisitor", Lex filled her in.

"I read a lot of her articles, not my style but they were really good. I imagine that she would really like getting to the bottom of mysteries, especially the juicy scandalous ones. In her writing she sounds happy … is she? She didn't just go down that path because of me did she?" Chloe asked the question that had been bugging her for years now.

"No", Lex assured her, "it was what she wanted. Besides she has a knack for getting to the bottom of things, she found out about some of Luthor Corp's less favourable projects to try to blackmail me but when she couldn't, she sold them to Oliver Queen in exchange for him using all of this influence to find you if you weren't dead".

"And …?"

"And he found nothing. But he suspected, I could tell", Lex could remember the look of dawning comprehension on his former rivals face and then the look of extreme sadness. Although they had never been friends, they knew each other very well. Oliver had been able to tell just what Lex's intentions had been and that they might never get Chloe back and so he had lied to Lois. She had fallen into his arms crying and Lex heard that they were now dating. He hoped that Oliver's deception did not come back to bite him in the ass, whatever Oliver had done to him in the past he didn't deserve that.

"Oh God, poor Lois", Chloe moaned as she door to the office was flung open.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"What is this time Luthor?" Lois demanded as she stormed into his office without knocking or waiting for admittance. Lex sighed, he was used to this but he noticed Chloe jump slightly at the sudden noise.

He ran his hand over the top of her head as she let go of his arm and he stood up, the settee back was so high that no one could see if someone was sitting there from behind. That was probably for the best right now, he did not need Lois seeing Chloe until he had prepared her at least a little.

"Thank-you for coming at such short notice", Lex said neutrally as he strode over to the doors and closed them.

Lois turned to eye him warily. "You knew that I would when I received your message saying that you were finally willing to tell me the truth".

Lex examined her closely. He didn't like Lois that much, he had always been pleased to see how much she cared about Chloe and knew that that affection had cost her dearly these past few years. She always had a slightly haunted look and a glimmer of fear every time she looked at him, - not for herself, he had realised long ago - but that he could have hurt Chloe.

"What is it? What did you do to her?" She demanded, now looking absolutely terrified. It wasn't just the thought that Chloe might be dead anymore, it was the idea that this man might have held her prisoner, might have tortured her … "I swear Luthor if you have hurt her then your name won't save you. I am more than willing to spend the rest of my life in prison if you have touched her …"

"I didn't touch her, she is fine physically at least", she attempted to reassure her.

Lois stared at him in disbelief, that was what she had been dying to hear for years but now that she did she couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true, if it were then she had let her cousin down years ago. She hadn't found her; she had let her be held captive for years. How could Chloe ever forgive her?

She launched herself at Lex, trying to hit him but her emotions made her sloppy and Lex easily out manoeuvred her, grabbing her wrists.

"You are lying".

"I'm not".

"So what, you just kept her here in your mansion to be at your beck and call while we all worried about her?" The tears streamed down her cheeks, thousands of horrifying images whirling around in her head.

"She wasn't in the mansion, she was … elsewhere. But I promise you that she was never harmed", Lex tried to explained. In truth she was taking it about as well as he had expected, hence him wanting to talk to her first. He was worried that Chloe wouldn't be able to deal with such strong emotions, evidently he had underestimated her.

"I'm fine Lois", Chloe's voice came from behind her cousin.

"Chloe", Lois gasped, wrenching herself from Lex's grip and whirling around to see where the voice came from.

"No, you're not", Lois shook her head. This was a cruel trick, to get someone who looked and sounded a bit like Chloe to torture her.

"Yes Lois, I am. Look at me really look at me. Listen to my voice", Chloe held out her hands to her cousin and was shocked to feel how cold they were. "Don't pay attention to the makeup, the clothes or the new hair. Just look at _me_".

Lois stared at her, comprehension dawning. It was too good to be true, she just couldn't allow herself to believe it. She had had too many dreams where she woke up - still inside her dream – thinking that Chloe's death had just been a dream. She had run down the street after too many people she thought looked a little bit like Chloe.

"Baby?" She whispered and Chloe nodded.

"It's me Lo", she promised her, squeezing her cousin's hands before bringing on to her face to show her that she was indeed real. Then she removed the strap on her dress to reveal the scar that she had had since they were children. "See, here's the proof, no one but you and I know that I have this or how I got it."

The taller girl looked so desperately like she wanted to believe it, but still she doubted. This could all be some cruel practical joke.

"I spilt soda on the carpet of your tree house and you banned me and I said that I didn't care and that I would just go and make a cooler one but as I climbed down we were still arguing, I lost my footing and fell over. You felt guilty and I never told anyone what had happened", Chloe recounted the story.

"If Chloe were alive and tortured she could have told Lex that so that he could pass the new version of you off", Lois wouldn't allow herself to be conned. She would not get her hopes up.

Unfortunately Lex couldn't deny that he would be quite capable of something like that, if it weren't Chloe.

"I would have told him a fake story, one with just enough truth to make him believe it but with something wrong in it so that you would know that I was alive and well", Chloe tried to make her cousin see sense, she could defend Lex later.

Lois appeared to be considering this for a moment before nodding.

"Besides, there is something that I would never have told Lex and he wouldn't have known to ask about", Chloe pointed out as she learnt over and whispered into Lois' ear.

"Chloe", Lois screamed finally, truly believing and threw her arms around her.

"Lois", Chloe replied returning the almost bruising embrace although Lex noticed she still looked a little uncomfortable at first.

"Are you alright? Where have you been? What happened?" Lois demanded in the fashion which showed how she had got so far in her chosen profession.

Chloe looked guilty. "Can we sit down?"

Together they made their way over to the settee and Lex gave Chloe an encouraging smile when she caught his eye before leaving, to give them some privacy.

"I am so sorry Lois", Chloe tried to keep herself together.

"What for?" Lois wondered.

"It's all my fault. I was in love with Clark but he was in love with Lana and I found out that they were together by accident, I was so angry and I wanted to hurt them both, but mostly Clark", Chloe started.

"Understandable. I have half a mind to go and wallop him on your behalf", Lois interjected, wondering how on earth he could prefer Lana to Chloe.

"Well, unfortunately I didn't decide to hit him, I wish that I had. Instead I agreed to do a research project on him for Lionel. I was so angry that I was being pushed out of his life for Lana and that nothing was going right; I wanted revenge", Chloe wondered how long it would take before Lois turned on her.

"Oh Chloe", Lois wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Lionel is the devil himself".

"I know that now. Hell, I knew that then but I was so blinded by hate that I thought that I could handle it. I couldn't. It turns out that I don't actually like destroying my friends. At first it was easy enough, I just gave him the information that I knew he already had and he gave me so much in return. New computers for The Torch, he got my father a promotion which meant that we could buy a new house, he got me my very own column in The Daily Planet …" She trailed off.

"It all sounds too good to be true", Lois said sadly, she knew that this wasn't going to end well.

"It was", Chloe acknowledged. "Soon he …" She couldn't tell Lois all of what he had really done so she opted for just the bare minimum of details. "He became nastier. He wanted more from me and when I refused to give it to him he decided to take everything away from Dad and me".

Lois rubbed her back.

"I thought that if I could find something bad enough, I could blackmail him …" Chloe could hardly believe how stupid it all sounded now.

"Oh Chloe", Lois moaned, not sure how to comfort her.

"I got in way over my head and I had to go to Lex and beg him to get me out of it", she admitted.

"Did he?" Lois asked.

"Yes".

"And what did he ask for in return?" She couldn't turn off her suspicious mind. She knew that there was something more to this.

"Nothing."

Lois looked incredulous as Chloe continued.

"I gave him all of the information that I had and we agreed that he would protect me and I would testify. Then it would all be over."

"But it didn't happen like that?"

Chloe shook her head. "Lex decided that it was too great a risk to take, he had warned me that I should try to get out, that he could make my Dad and I disappear within an hour if we wanted before we went to the FBI but I refused. I said that I would stand by his side".

"What went wrong?"

"Lex thought that it was too dangerous, and he was right. He heard of a plan that Lionel had to kill me and knew that the FBI could not do the job they had been assigned and so worked with your father and had my father and I grabbed from our safe house just before the explosion that he set up and then pretended that we were dead", Chloe got out in one breath.

"Bloody hell", Lois exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was a bit of a shock for me as well". She couldn't help a rueful smile.

"Where did you go?"

"Oh, here there everywhere", Chloe said with a shrug. She didn't want to go into the details with her cousin.

"Sounds interesting".

"Not really, but I was well taken care of so you don't have to worry about that", Chloe assured her.

"And Lex, he didn't … he didn't hurt you?" Lois asked not quite sure how to phrase her question.

"No, he took excellent care of me from afar. He made sure that I had everything I needed and kept an eye on me", Chloe tried to console her cousin. She did not mention that she suspected that he may have been keeping a rather closer eye on her than she was quite comfortable with.

"So I guess that I owe him an apology for the last few years", Lois thought grumpily.

"Probably, but I don't think that he expects one", Chloe smiled, unable to resist giving Lois another hug.

"If your safe return means that I need to eat crow in front Lex Luthor then … well I don't like you that much actually", Lois joked.

Chloe managed a small laugh but looked uncomfortable.

"Are you back because Lionel is dead? Is that what changed?" Lois asked, not asking why she had not got in touch over the years. She knew enough about how military operations worked, no one got to know, not even the next of kin.

"Yeah, once we got the news. I came home".

"When".

"Yesterday".

"Oh".

"I'm sorry, the first thing that I wanted to do was call you but I thought that you might think that it was some sort of sick practical joke or something. And I …. I didn't know what to say", Chloe finished lamely.

"That's okay", Lois assured her although she was a little hurt, she would have loved to know 24 hours earlier that Chloe was alive and well. "Besides now I can say that there has been one situation that left Chloe Sullivan not knowing what to say".

Lois was living in Metropolis but had been planning on spending the night with the Kents – something she still planned on doing – but she demanded to be shown around Chloe's room first and to take her cousin with her for dinner.

"Alright", Chloe agreed, "but if we are going to let Lex have his office back then I had better go and tell him". It wasn't just that, she wanted to let him know where she was going. If he had demanded to know, she would probably have refused to tell him on the grounds that it was none of his business but she knew that he would worry and as he wasn't being domineering she was happy enough to tell him.

She wandered around for a while before she found him – one of the maids had informed her that he had been headed in this direction -, when she heard his voice in the orangery.

"I don't give a damn Bloom, I don't pay you to think I pay you to know. Your job was to keep her safe and happy and to keep me informed of everything".

Chloe paled.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Chloe sat in the passenger seat of Lois' car as they sped towards the Kents' farm house.

"I can't believe this, it is so brilliant. You're alive", Lois babbled on. "I knew it, all of this time I just knew it".

"I know you did Lo, Lex told me", Chloe assured her, trying not to scowl as she said her saviour's name.

"Yeah, him. Did you find baldilocks?" Lois asked, not really having anything against Lex at that moment. On the contrary she wanted to hug him and thank him for protecting her cousin … so naturally she was taking cheap shots at him.

"Um … yeah. But he was on the phone so I didn't disturb him", Chloe said, not wanting to continue with that conversation. She did not know what she had been thinking; she didn't have to tell him where she was going. It was a decision which she had made in the heat of the moment and which she started regretting almost immediately, in fact even as she had returned to Lois deciding that she would show her around and leave without telling Lex she felt guilty. Chloe knew that he would worry about her sudden disappearance but then she remembered that he had apparently been paying someone to spy on her, he would probably know where she was going anyway. He had probably … no, she wouldn't let herself go down that path.

"You've got a really nice room at least and I know that I can't really compete but if you ever want to get out of the mansion there is always a place for you with me", Lois offered. She hoped that it went without saying but then, realising how long they had been separated, she thought that she had better be explicit.

"Thanks Lois, if I ever get tired of being waited on hand and foot I will come and crash on your sofa", Chloe smiled.

"It's a fold out".

"Cool. How do you work in Metropolis but live above the Talon?" Chloe wondered, "Isn't that a bit of a commute? Property in Metropolis is not that much more expensive than it is here".

"It is a bitch of a commute but I stay in Metropolis most nights", Lois explained.

Chloe raised an eyebrow at her cousin, "So the occasional pictures I saw of you in the society pages with a certain billionaire saying", she put on an overly breathy voice, "Oh no, we are just very good friends", she dropped the voice, "were indicative of something more than mere friendship, were they?"

Anyone other than Lois would have blushed. "I don't know what you are talking about baby. You know me".

"Yes, hence the question", Chloe prodded.

Lois face broke into a wide grin, "He is really fantastic Chloe, you would love him".

"I'm sure I will, although I will of course have to have a little talk with him about his intentions", Chloe put on her mean face, "Uncle Sam might not have been able to intimidate him but I will".

"No doubt", Lois guffawed at her cousin's expression. "You might bite his ankles".

Another nod.

"Or pull his hair, if I remember the argument you and Sarah had", Lois recalled the day that Sarah Kent had pulled Chloe's hair – Lois had not known of it until after the fact, as she was one year above them – and Chloe had responded by yanking on Sarah's plat so hard that the little brat fell off the chair and smacked her head on the floor.

"She deserved it".

"That's what I told everyone, along with that she was making it all up", Lois reminded her.

"Yeah, I think that maybe defending my hair pulling made you then saying that I had not pulled her hair at all a little less believable", Chloe suggested.

"Possibly", then something occurred to Lois, "Hang on a second, since when do you know that people live together before marriage? Who told you that?"

Chloe laughed, "I did have a TV set".

"Oh, been keeping up with One Tree Hill?" Lois fell into one of their pre-disappearance conversations.

"Yes, can you believe what Brooke did with …"

"Hey, don't change the subject", Lois cut her off. "What has your love life been like?"

"You see, I knew that you would ask me that. Check that I am alive, focus on the hair, the clothes and then onto boys", Chloe teased.

Lois just shrugged, "I take it that that means that there was someone".

"Sort of".

"Sort of?"

"I think that I might have been engaged", she rang her hands together.

"What?" Lois pulled up to a stop outside the Kents' house. "You think that you might have been engaged?"

"Yeah".

"How on earth do you not know something like that?" Lois looked shocked, she had forgotten that she had hooked up with someone before but she doubted that she could ever forget being engaged … although strange things did happen in Smallville. Maybe Chloe had been exposed to so much meteor rock that she was having problems with her memory.

"It's complicated. Please Lois, can we not get into it right now? I would just rather forget about it for one night", Chloe looked at her beseechingly.

Lois stared at her hard, then said, "Alright, I will drop it … for now".

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief as they got out of the car; she really did not want to explain anything to Lois right then. She knew that she would have to eventually but if she could just have one night without having to deal with things then she would be happy.

She reached into the back seat to get the bottle of wine, box of chocolates and bunch of flowers which she had 'borrowed' from Lex's mansion and garden. There was no point in having award winning roses if you couldn't take them to visit people – in Chloe's opinion, at least.

Patting the bouquet she thought that they would enjoy their new life on Martha Kent's window sill. She looked up at the house, it was just as she had remembered it. The day before she had not really had time to look about her properly, now that she did she realised that she could not detect one single change.

"Amazed that nothing ever seems to change here?" Lois asked, reading her thoughts.

"Pretty much".

"If it helps, I am fairly certain that I have left Clark at least psychologically scarred", Lois grinned, "I stayed with them for a couple of months, booted Clark out of his room".

"I bet he loved that", Chloe said, thinking that he actually probably had. Lois would have brought him out of himself a little more and helped him get into the swing of life again. She knew Clark and knew that he would have happily buried himself away in the farm had he been given the option and that even Lana's sweet words and gentle looks might not have been enough.

"I think that he did, at least now he can honestly say that there has been a girl in his room", Lois remembered one of her favourite taunts.

"I thought that he was with Lana?" Chloe looked confused.

"Oh he is but they haven't … you know", Lois gestured the rest of the sentence.

Chloe looked shocked but then she supposed that it made sense, if Clark had super powers it was always possible that he might lose control and really hurt her. She felt bad for Lana, sure the girl had got on her nerves at some points and she had even hated her for being loved by Clark at more than one point during High School but now she just felt pity. Lana had got the boy but would never really _have_ the boy. That was depressing. Chloe at least knew that she could have sexual satisfaction with the man that she wanted – physically at least – with just one word.

Lois noticed the look and announced, "Serves him right for choosing the wrong girl. We both know that you would have rocked his world by down", she threw her arm around her cousin's shoulders. "Now, let's go terrorize Smallville. He is going to be thrilled to see me!"

"So help me Jonathan Kent, if you ever want to see the inside of our bedroom again you will be sweet to that girl. She has been through a lot", seeing that her husband was about to interrupt she held up a hand, "you don't know how she got into that position to start with and neither do I. But the point is that she likes Lex and if you attack him you will not hurt him, you will hurt her".

"Martha", her husband tried to reason with her.

"No, no Martha, no sweetheart, no nothing. You will be kind to her; you will make her feel welcome here", she ordered.

"Fine", he took the roast that was given to him and took it over and laid it on the table, trying not to mutter under his breath. He really hated sleeping in the barn.

Martha heard the sound of car doors closing and looked out of the window to see that the girls had arrived. "They're here", she called to Clark – she thought that he was in Metropolis – and saw a blur travelling in the direction of his bedroom, then coming back down in a suit and then the living room was miraculously cleared.

She headed out of the door to greet the girls as she saw Lois wrapping her arm around Chloe. She was glad to see that the younger woman was looking a little less nervous, although there was still a sadness and confusion behind the eyes.

"Hello girls", Martha hurried over to them wrapping them both in a hug, trying to ignore that Chloe still became a little rigid in the embrace before softening.

"Hello Mrs Kent", Chloe said as she stepped back, "we brought some things", she handed them over, putting up a barrier.

"Thank-you sweetheart", she smiled, not missing the gesture.

"Well Chloe brought them, I didn't", Lois admitted.

"Well technically they are from Lex", Chloe finished for her cousin.

"Do you think that he will notice that the prize winning roses are missing a few blooms?" Lois teased.

Chloe just shrugged, "He told me to make myself at home". She had plucked them right in front of the security camera so she was fairly certain that he would notice, not to mention that she had taken the enormous ones, right from the very the middle.

"It was very kind of you, although of course completely unnecessary", Martha assured them as she walked them in. "I was delighted when Lois said that she was bringing you along with her, is Lex coming to?"

"No, he had to work", Chloe said automatically. Martha Kent had always made her feel strange. She was so kind and motherly to everyone, she was glad to see that she had clearly taken to Lex but then was angry with herself for caring about Lex when she thought of what he might have done.

"Oh well that is a shame, maybe next time", Martha said hoping that Chloe was getting the message that she and anyone she chose to associate with would always be welcome in their home.

"I'm sure that Lex would be delighted to have dinner with you", Chloe said, letting her know that she had got the message.

"Come on, I have to harass Smallville", Lois looked at Martha, "I mean say hello to your charming son".

"I know what you meant", Martha seemed unconcerned by Lois' bullying of Clark, "he is pacing in the living room".

"Smallville get your", she looked at Martha, "bottom out here", Lois yelled.

Clark appeared. "Hi Lois", he looked slightly shy, "Chloe. It's good to see you".

"Yeah everyone likes to see her now that she is a brunette and has some designers in her wardrobe", Lois joked, having had her fill of sentiment.

"It's not because of that", Clark said frantically, looking at Chloe as if really afraid that she might believe that.

"It's alright Clark", Chloe reached out to pat his arm. It didn't feel as normal as being with Lex did, but as long as she was initiating the contact it was alright. "I am used to Lois' sense of humour", she opened her arms to him for a hug – which he did awkwardly. In a mock whisper Chloe added, "and I use the word in its broadest sense".

"Hey", Lois interjected.

Chloe pointedly ignored her and stayed in Clark's arms for a few moments longer, remembering how safe and warm she had always felt there. She still did – after the initial discomfort – but it wasn't as a lover.

"I missed you", she told him.

"I missed you too, so much, I'm so sorry about …"

"It's alright", she assured him, "we can talk later".

Clark had to use all of his self-control to reign in his strength. He could so easily have broken her he wanted to hug her so hard.

As they finally pulled apart she inquired, "Is Lana joining us?"

"No", Clark seemed uncomfortable.

"She knows that I am alive, I met her yesterday", Chloe said, wondering if that was why Clark looked so odd.

"I know that she does, I called her right after you left", he admitted.

"Yeah, but no one thinks to call me", Lois complained before giving Chloe another hug to show that she was mad with Clark, not with her.

"It's not that", Clark continued.

"Then what is it?" Chloe wondered.

"She um …"

"Lana has got it into her head that my constant suggestions to Smallville here about how he could improve himself are actually a sign of my deep and requited love for him", Lois explained with a laugh. "I think that someone has got a fear about having the love of her life taken by someone he barely knows … I wonder where she got an idea like that from".

"Tact", Chloe muttered, "might want to learn some".

"Nah", Lois shook her head linked her arm with Martha's and headed inside to give Clark and Chloe a moment alone.

"Shall we?" Clark asked overly formally, offering her his arm.

"Why thank-you kind Sir", Chloe laughed trying to imitate a simpering southern belle.

"I read the note that you left for Lana. Thank-you. I just want you to know that I wouldn't just dump Lana for …"

"Hey, it's fine. I wrote that note to give you a chance; you aren't in any way obligated to me. I promise", Chloe smiled and Clark grinned, a weight taken off his shoulders.

"Thanks", he gave her a slight squeeze.

"You're welcome", she wondered if she should hint that she knew. "Besides, you aren't Lois type. She goes for heroes, men that have been decorated more times than a Christmas tree", she gave him a wink and Clark's jaw dropped comically. She couldn't know, could she?

Dinner passed amicably – Jonathan was on his best behaviour – and the food was delicious. Lois seemed to know that Chloe didn't want to discuss anything about herself at that point and so she kept them all entertained by teaching Clark and talking about the seedy things that she had seen in Metropolis. It was fantastic to be in such a warm family environment where there were no concerns.

She should have known that that wouldn't last long.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

The sun had set during the course of the dinner, creating the perfect ambience for a patented Kent movie night. Chloe and Lois had retired, along with the family, to the living room where they were in the process of huddling up together to watch a James Bond movie when a bright light shone through their windows, startling them all.

Chloe in particular jumped about a foot in the air, although she tried to pretend that she had not and that she couldn't see the sympathetic looks the other were shooting her. It had been enough of a chore for her to sit in the darkened room watching a film with gun shots without unexplained lights just coming out of nowhere.

"What in the world?" Martha wondered loudly – attempting to divert the attention from Chloe's reaction - as they all stood up and made their way over to the window as the light disappeared again. There was a bang and Chloe found her hands being held by both Lois and Clark, who were staring with fury in the direction of the disturbance. She wanted to sink into the ground.

Without the lights on, it was too dark to make out the form of Lex Luthor – through the window - as he slammed the door of his car and charged towards the door, raising his fist to bang on it only to find it opened for him.

After giving Chloe's hand a squeeze Clark had flicked the lights on and headed for the door, ripping it open hoping that it wouldn't be another case of Jor-El causing problems in the barn. As he saw that it was only Lex, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Have you seen Chloe?" Lex demanded of Clark.

"Yeah, she's right here", Clark replied, wondering why his friend looks about ready to jump out of his skin.

Chloe came up behind Clark when she heard her name – ignoring Lois' attempts to shield her until she worked out who it was -, she had known that Lex would worry but she thought that he would just assume that she had come over to the Kents', she had thought that maybe he would even call there but not turn up in person.

Clark stepped to the side to allow Lex to enter. "Come in, we're just watching a film. We were sad that you couldn't make it, Chloe told us that you had to work".

Lex would normally have been flattered to have been thought of but at that moment could only think of Chloe. He had been beside himself with worry. At first when he couldn't find her he had just thought that she must have been somewhere else in the mansion, but after having checked with the maids and finding out nothing he had turned to the security footage. There he had seen her picking his mother's prized roses with apparent glee, smirking as she raided the wine cellar and appropriating chocolates from the kitchen before leaving with Lois. She appeared to have been collecting presents and hadn't taken any bags so he assumed that it wasn't permanent but he couldn't be sure and that scared him. As they had left in Lois' car and Chloe hadn't taken her bag he had no way of tracking her.

"Damn it", he swore. He knew that he should have got a microchip inserted in to one of her back molars last time she had had a dentist check-up, but as she never had any cavities it would probably have raised her suspicions if she had suddenly been informed of one.

He had called The Talon but Lana had not seen them, she said that she thought that Clark was having dinner with his family and had been rather annoyed to hear that Lois was around. He thought that she might have gone with Lois to the dinner, that would explain the flowers but when he had called the Kents he had received no answer. Praying that it was just a case of them not answering their phone during meal times, he got in his car and sped over there.

"Chloe", he checked as he entered and saw her, pleased to see that she was looking a little guilty. "I was looking everywhere for you". He knew that he should have been ashamed to show such emotion but at that moment all he cared about was making sure that she was safe and sound … and then taking her back to the mansion and wrapping her in his arms and never letting her go, possibly while scolding her for having run off and scared him in the first place.

"I was here, having dinner", she informed him, then annoyed with herself for giving him information as if she owed him something. Well, she owed him her life but she didn't want to think about that right then. She needed to hold on to her anger as she saw him standing there looking so concerned. It became easier as fury swept across his features.

"Glad to see that you weren't doing something stupid when you left the mansion without informing anyone", he said, every syllable dripping with sarcasm.

"I don't have to inform you or anyone else of where I choose to go", Chloe spat back. "If that is something you require from me then I just tell me and I will leave tonight".

"No", he stepped forwards and would have grabbed her if Clark had not put an arm out to stop him.

"Maybe we should go outside to talk", Clark said in a tone which made it sound like a suggestion even as he muscled Lex out of the door.

"I had better go too, thank-you for a lovely evening Mr and Mrs Kent. I'll call you tomorrow Lo", Chloe made her goodbyes.

"You're welcome sweetheart, drop by any time", Martha gave her a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek, secretly wanting to tell Chloe off for running off without telling anyone. She could see how much Lex cared about her and didn't want him to be hurt in that way.

"You sure that you are going to be alright?" Lois asked with a look that clearly said that she thought that she could take Lex if his little outburst had upset Chloe.

"Yeah". And with that Chloe made her way out into the night.

Once outside Chloe wrapped her arms around herself to ward of the chill, and wished that she had remembered to bring a jacket or something. She scanned the area for some sign of the duo and couldn't see anything but intuition told her to head for the barn. As she rounded opened the door she could hear Lex complaining, "Get off me Clark, what did you think that I was going to do? Drag her back to the mansion by her hair, lock her up and rape her?"

"No, of course not", Clark released the shorter man, "I know that you would never hurt her but she seems really nervous of any physical contact". He sighed; he was really screwing this up. He hadn't been a good enough friend to her, he hadn't trusted her with his secret, he hadn't protected her, he hadn't reacted well yesterday and now he was taking his fears out on his friend.

"Not with me", Lex said, doing his best to keep the bragging note out of his tone.

"She doesn't pull away from you?" Clark asked with interest.

Lex shook his head, "The first couple of times yes, but not anymore …"

Before Clark could ask any questions and work out anything about her feelings towards the billionaire Chloe interrupted them, "Can I come in? Or did you two want to be alone?" She raised an eyebrow, making her dirty implication clear.

"Chloe", they both turned to her.

Lex sipped his car keys from his jacket pocket to another one, before taking it off and walking over to her to wrap it around her shoulders as Clark said, "Of course", and closed the door behind her.

He took the opportunity to observe the two. He did not think that Lex would intentionally lie to him about Chloe's progress just to make himself seem more important, but he might have misread her behaviour.

Chloe pulled back as Lex approached her, shooting him a death stare which he returned as he just invaded her personal space even more and brought the jacket around her shoulders and tugged it in place authoritatively. Clark heard her heart rate increasing and was about to step in, worried that Lex was scaring her, but as he looked more closely he noticed that she was overly warm. She was angry, but she wasn't scared. Lex had been right.

Clark considered the situation. Lex had called him last night to tell him not to worry about Chloe, that he had convinced her to stay with him and that he was going to take care of anything she needed legally, jobwise etc and that he would see what her mental and emotional states were like and get her the best councillors in the world, if necessary. It was pretty much what he had expected from Lex, but it was still reassuring to hear. It seemed like he had been taking pretty good care of her if he had got her to trust him and not fear him in such a short a period of time – and when he was so clearly angry.

"We need to talk", Lex informed her coldly, as he tried his best to reign in his temper. Chloe folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Chloe", he growled her name and Clark noticed the heat radiating through her body, in several areas in particular. He blushed and returned to his normal vision. Clearly Chloe was not afraid of Lex Luthor.

"Lex", she replied, her own voice and seductive, "I came here to speak to Clark".

He smirked, he was angry and the fear had not quite warn off yet but if she was baiting him … well that was better than indifference. He didn't know what he had done to make her take off and act out like this but he would find out, and he would wait if she was determined to make him. He would return the favour later, making her wait and beg when he was on top literally and metaphorically.

"As you wish. If this is a private talk I'll wait in the car to take you home", he stressed the final word.

"No", she began and saw the look of pure horror on his face; it was like a blade through her heart. She reached out her hand to touch before remembering how she thought he might have betrayed her and pulled back, although she finished her sentence quickly. "There's no need for you to wait, I'll get a cab back."

Relief was evident on his face and Chloe hated herself for caring.

"It's fine, I'll wait", Lex stated.

"No".

"Chloe you can't take a cab, you can't be closed up with someone you don't know …" He tried to explain in what seemed to him like a rational manner.

"Don't presume to tell me what I can and can't do Lex Luthor, I'll have you know …" Chloe was just gearing up to take him down.

"I'll drive Chloe back", Clark stepped in, sensing that they might both start world war three over this issue. He got the feeling that there was something going on that he was not privy to. "It will give us more time to talk", he spoke to Chloe, then turning to Lex, he added, "and she knows me and I won't let anything happen to her".

"Fine", they both said, their eyes boring in to each other.

Clark wasn't sure who he felt more sorry for. Being on the wrong end of a Luthor was a terrible thing and something most of the globe feared, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Chloe might actually have the worse temper … although it would be a close call.

"I'll see you at home then", Lex said, still making no move to actually leave.

She nodded and he felt his heart lighten slightly, she was definitely coming home to him. His expression must have come across as being too smug to Chloe as she decided to put him in his place, "That is so kind of you Clark".

Lex rolled his eyes. "If you want to make me jealous honey, then you will have to try better than some farm boy", he purred into her ear, so close that only she could hear. He placed his hand low on her back and watched with delight as she shuddered. Her body responded him, even if her mind was determined to hate him for some reason, at that moment.

"Clark", he nodded to his friend as he slid his hand back around Chloe – taking his time to enjoy the tremor he could feel beneath his palm - and made his way back to his car.

"Mind if I ask what all of that was about?" Clark asked, once they were alone.

"No, I don't mind but I'm not going to give you an answer", was Chloe's only reply, she seemed distracted by the barn door – through which Lex had just left - as if by staring intently enough at it would enable her to see straight through it. Clark did so, on her behalf, and informed her, "He is just sitting in his car".

He wondered if maybe he had gone too far, if seeing his powers in action would terrify her even though she knew of them now.

"Right", Chloe said pulling Lex's jacket further around herself, now that he wasn't present she could admit that she was grateful for its warmth and it smelled nice.

"So you can see through objects", she surmised, "that makes sense, now that I think of it".

"When did you find out?" He wondered, shocked by how well she was taking all of this.

"That you are an alien from another planet – probably from Krypton or somewhere near it? – and that because of our sun you have super human abilities which have been coming on over the years and which you keep hidden from everyone?" She asked, then added, "Except, I expect, from Pete and your parents".

"Yeah", Clark said.

"Pretty soon after I left. I was just sitting there thinking – or rather trying not to think about Smallville – and suddenly it all just clicked. I cannot believe that I didn't figure it all out sooner; it is so obvious when you think about it. Some investigative reporter I turned out to be", she scoffed.

"No one has ever worked out before", Clark said, trying to make her feel better.

"Yeah well none of those people were Chloe Sullivan", she pointed out.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, it's just …"

"You didn't think that I was trustworthy", Chloe said, so that he wouldn't have to. "It's okay Clark. If I were in your position then I wouldn't have told me either. I … I wasn't the kind of person that I would have liked to have been. I knew that I was getting obsessed with things but I couldn't stop myself", she gave a shrug as she tried not to think of how similar she was to Lex in that regard.

"It wasn't that I didn't trust you or that I didn't want to tell you Chloe, it was just that knowing is a huge responsibility. One that no one should have to bear. And I'll admit that I was a little scared of telling you, but more because you would have asked the questions that I was trying not to ask myself", he looked ashamed. "I am sorry that I kept you out of my life, I'm sorry for the way that I treated you."

"Clark, it's okay, you have nothing to apologise for", she assured him.

"No, I do. I should have been there for you, I should have protected you. If I had told you the truth then you would have known to come to me, I would have been able to keep you from getting hurt", he fidgeted.

"That is not your job", Chloe said earnestly, "you are a superhero. Your job is to worry about people everywhere, not just me. And maybe if I hadn't pushed you then you would have been able to open up to me. If I hadn't tried to hurt you then none of this would ever have happened in the first place. I put the people I loved the most through hell all because I was stupid and selfish and …"

"Don't, please Chloe", Clark walked over to her and was about to embrace her when he pulled back, remembering how she had changed.

"It's okay", she assured him and he carefully folded her in his arms.

"I've missed you so much".

"I've missed you too".


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Sure you don't want to help Lois kick me out of my room", Clark asked as he drove up the driveway to the Luthor mansion, already knowing the answer, even before he had seen Lex's car sitting outside the main entrance with its owner leaning against its bonnet.

Although there was no wind it was well below freezing and Lex did not even have his jacket, and yet he waited. This was the only way into the mansion, this was the only way that he could be sure that he would know the very second that she arrived.

He was being stupid and he knew it. He had checked that she was coming home to him and she had nodded, Chloe's word was good enough for him. It was. That was the only reason why he had left the Kents' in the first place, afraid that if he pushed her she might reconsider. When they had the argument which he was pretty sure they were going to have, it would be under his roof - where she belonged.

He kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. The lights from the mansion illuminated the horizon enough for him to see anyone coming – or to at least made out their headlights -, but the more time passed, the more anxious he became.

Lex glanced down at his watch once more, certain that it had to have been at least an hour since he had last checked it only to discover that he had in fact been less than thirty seconds. Frowning he brought the timepiece up to his ear but found that it was indeed still ticking.

That didn't satisfy him though; there was no way that it had only been a quarter of an hour since he had got there. He should go into the house and check the clock in there, but if he did that then he might miss them. She might sneak in without his ever knowing, he could sit out there all night not knowing that she was in and safe. She could be waiting in there for him thinking that he had forgotten her. His guts clenched, she couldn't have thought that he didn't care, could she? Was that why she had been so strange with him earlier? He had replayed their last meeting – before she had gone to the Kents' for dinner – over and over in his head but he couldn't come up with anything. She had clearly been angry when she had left and in hindsight - as much of it as could be garnered in under half an hour – he could admit that his way of going about it had probably only raised her hackles since then.

He sighed, debating what to do when he saw headlights. He tried not to get his hopes up, there could be any number of reasons for those lights, they did not necessarily mean that Chloe was coming home. They turned in at the gate and made their way towards him.

It was definitely Clark's car. He stood to attention and strode down to the truck, it had barely come to a stop when he yanked the passenger door open.

"Lex", Chloe gasped as the cold night air hit her. She had seen him coming but couldn't quite believe it. He couldn't have been standing out there all of that time waiting for her, his icy fingers grasped her wrist as she got out of the car. He had been outside all of that time.

"You're freezing", she said automatically reaching out to hold both of his hands and chafe them before realising what she was doing, she wanted to give him his jacket back but she knew that he wouldn't take it, he would just wrap it back around her, pulling her closer and then she would be in danger of forgetting everything. Hell, if he said her name the way that he had in the barn she was in danger of begging him to take her on the hood of Clark's car and worrying about anything else much later.

Clark joined them around the other side, "See, I brought her back safe and sound".

Lex managed to tear his attention away from Chloe for one second and flashed Clark a tight smile. "Thanks, I'll call you tomorrow", he said as he put his arm around Chloe's shoulders and began to steer her towards the mansion. This possessive gesture reminded her of why she was angry and what she suspected him of, Chloe pulled away and, standing on her tip toes, kissed Clark on the cheek.

"Thanks for a lovely evening Clark", she said as she stepped back, "it was a shame that it had to end so soon". She shot a look at Lex which Clark was fairly certain must have been meteor aided, but Lex withstood it, just wrapping his arm around her again and leading her off.

"Bye", Clark called after them, "we should arrange to do something altogether this weekend", 'if you both survive until then', he added under his breath.

"We need to talk", Lex announced, as they stepped over the threshold and indicated to the maid who came scurrying over that he would take care of Chloe. He removed his jacket from her shoulders when he saw that she was trying to shrug out of it.

"Yes, we probably do", Chloe admitted.

"The office?" When had he started thinking of it just as the office rather than his?

"Sure", she agreed, not saying anything when he put his arm back around her shoulders. She could still feel how cold his finger were, as soon as they reached the office she walked over and stoked the fire ordering him, "Come over here and warm up".

He smiled, "I didn't know that you cared".

The look she gave him should have scorched him.

"You're mad", he surmised.

"To say the least", she admitted, sitting down on the coffee table wondering if it would irk him. He seemed like the kind of man that would get irked by something like that but Lex just sat down next to her and placed his hand on her back, rubbing gentle circles.

"Care to tell me what about?" He pressed, "I mean I know that I have the ability to make you angry in about 2 seconds flat but I get the feeling that there is something more to it than my turning up while you were watching a movie".

"There was", she nodded.

"I saw you taking the things as presents", he prodded.

"I'll pay for them", she told him, remembering how childishly she had acted that afternoon.

"Don't be silly, I told you that you were to make yourself at home. My mother would have liked to have seen her prize roses appreciated", he watched for her reaction.

Chloe looked at him in despair, "You're kidding? They weren't really your mother's … ?"

"No, I'm not", he smiled slightly. So she clearly didn't want to hurt him too badly, deep down. "But like I said, she would have been happy that they were going to a nice new home to be enjoyed, after all as you took the flowers from the root Martha can now replant them".

"Oh".

"So are you going to tell me what I have done to make you so mad?" He asked, still rubbing her back.

"I was trying to forget, at least for tonight", Chloe admitted, "it just hurts so much".

Lex paled, what could he possibly have done to hurt her so badly, without even knowing it?

"Tell me", his tone was beseeching.

"I heard you … on the phone".

He looked at her uncomprehendingly.

"Lois asked me if I wanted to go to the Kents' with her, I went to tell you that we were heading off", she admitted begrudgingly, reminding herself that there was nothing wrong with keeping him updated if she was the one choosing to do so, but still she tried to cover herself, "and that your study was free".

He grinned, she had planned on telling but then he remembered that he had done something. "Go on".

"I heard you speaking on the phone to Davis Bloom, I found out that he was in your employ", she explained.

"You're angry that I am in contact with him?" He wondered, thinking back to his conversation.

"No, it's not about that. Or at least, not directly. But I do need you to answer some questions for me honestly", she focused so completely on him that he wondered if she might actually be able to see into his brain.

"I'll always be honest with you Chloe, if there is something that I can't answer then I will tell you straight out", he promised her.

"Alright", she believed him. "Davis was in your pay?"

"Yes", Lex nodded.

That was what Chloe had expected, at least that showed that he wasn't lying about the most basic things. Or maybe that was his plan, tell her the truth about the things which she could verify and lie to her later. She gave herself a mental shake, she couldn't think like that. "From the very beginning?" She checked.

"No", Lex shook his head. "Your Uncle was in charge of finding the men, I only met them afterwards. Then obviously I made sure that they were on the pay role and that I was getting information out of them".

Before he got the chance to asking anything else, Chloe asked, "What did you ask them to do?"

"Oh God Chloe", he groaned, feeling sick. He should have seen this before, she hated being touched, she was jumpy … how had he not seen this before? Because he was a bloody fool who hadn't wanted to see, just like when she had first got in trouble.

"What did he do Chloe? Did he hurt you?" He grasped the tops of her arms, a sense of dread building up inside him. If he had touched her, he would kill him. No, not kill. He would keep him alive for years, as many as humanely possible just to make sure that he was tortured every single second of his existence.

"No no nothing like that", Chloe assured him, seeing where his thought process was headed. "Just answer me Lex; what was he supposed to do?"

"He was supposed to keep you safe", he answered simply, stroking her arms where he had held her so tightly. His heart rate wouldn't slow down.

"In what sense?" She asked.

"In what sense? Chloe what is this about?" His fingers grazed over her pinked flesh, and he had to resist laying a kiss there – just to make it better, of course.

"Just answer the question", she was becoming tenser, "In what sense?"

He sighed, "In the general sense. Make sure that no one got near you, that you were on the base, that you got three square meals a day, that you had your vitamin pills. You had a laptop etc", he rattled off the duties he could think of.

"Was he supposed to become part of my life? Was I supposed to become dependent upon him?" She questioned. This wasn't really about Davis, but if he had toyed with her through Davis then who knew what else he was capable of.

"I don't know", Lex said quietly. There had been something between her and Davis. He should have known, should have guessed. "I guess … it was always a possibility. I just wanted you to be safe and as happy as possible but I didn't really think of the emotional side that much because I didn't know how to fix that. I suppose that somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that you would have a relationship with the people there".

She looked appalled.

"But you did think about my emotions, my birthday was fantastic".

"You spent it with Davis", he realised.

"Yes".

"Having a good time?" Davis asked as he escorted her around the best art gallery in Florence.

"Are you kidding me?" Chloe almost shriek bouncing around. "This is one of the best birthday's ever! I cannot believe that Lex did all of this. I mean, I know that he always looks out of me. I know that he always provides, he has even closed down shops before but this!? Any entire quartier of Florence has been evicted on a bomb threat so that I can go around all of the art galleries, after having the best lunch ever after having spent the morning with the best designers in Italy who all acted as if it were some great honour to make my clothes!"

Davis grinned over at her, "Well you only turn 21 once".

"I know but this! This is incredible!" Chloe jumped up at and down. At that moment she could never have imagined that something would soon happen to change her life forever.

"Did you enjoy it?" Lex asked, the reports that he had got from that night had indicated that she had but then she had disappeared – along with Davis – the following day. Davis had only come back at the same time as Chloe and he had had no better luck getting information out of him than he had with Chloe.

"Yes, very much so thank-you", she answered honestly. She couldn't understand how he could be so genuinely concerned for her safety and her feelings and then have done what he had done.

"You disappeared the next day", he fished.

"Something came up, but you know that don't you?" Chloe asked, eyeing his suspiciously.

He looked at her in confusion. "Chloe, I have no idea what you are talking about".

"Lex I am so incredibly grateful for everything that you have done for me and my father, none of it was necessary." He was about to interrupt and so she held up a hand to stop him, "and it was sweet of you to care about my life there and to want to check up on me, I could even understand it if you told Davis to keep an extra special eye out for me … but you know so much about my life there. You kept such a tight hold … You were responsible, weren't you?"

"For what Chloe?"

"For Jimmy".


	15. Chapter 15: Part One

**Chapter Fifteen: Part One**

"Who's Jimmy?"

"You bastard", Chloe shot to her feet, rage coursing through her veins. She hadn't known what to expect from Lex, she had hoped that he would have some reason for what he had done, something that would magically make it all better, but she had never thought that he would just deny all knowledge of Jimmy.

"How dare you?" Chloe shouted, at least with him still sitting she was taller than him for once.

"How dare I do what?" Lex asked, holding his hands out in the age old gesture of innocence.

"How dare you claim that you have no knowledge of Jimmy. You know what Lex? I can forgive a lot of things. If you had had a good reason for what you did then I would have tried to get over it, but not this", she was shaking with fury.

"Chloe I have no idea what you are talking about", he stood up and tried to take her in his arms to sooth her.

"Don't you dare touch me", she jerked back, away from his touch. She went too near the fire and Lex reacted without thinking, grabbing her and pushing her to the side and onto the sofa, not hard, just enough to make sure that she wasn't going to walk back into the fire and burn herself.

"What the hell gives you the right …" Chloe started another tirade, trying to get back to her feet but Lex just sat down in front of her on the coffee table and pulled her closer to him by her hands.

"I was just trying to keep you from falling into the fire place. Please, just talk to me", he tried to be calm. He gave her his best look, hoping that that would placate her, at least a little.

"I can't believe you. Just tell me the truth!" She yelled at him.

"I don't know what you are talking about", he could feel his own temper rising but he tried to keep it in check. She was being completely unreasonable, but he reasoned that she had been through a lot.

Chloe was on her feet again. "Stop fucking me around Lex. Either tell me the truth or I am leaving!" She knew that it was manipulative, she knew that it was wrong to threaten him with that but it was the only thing that she had over him and she was angry so she used it.

Lex paled.

She took a step back at the look in his eyes. She had never seen anything like it. It was cold and hard and looked something like dread.

"No", he was on his feet and had pushed her back onto the settee before either of them could think. "You will not leave me", he growled as he loomed over her, reaching for her wrists. "You are mine", he shook her limbs slightly, "Have you got that? You signed a contract. You work for me for at least two months, only then do you get your reference. You live under this roof with me where I can protect you. You are mine".

"I am not yours and I won't be pushed around and intimidated by a Luthor ever again", Chloe tried to get up even though that now meant that they were nose to nose, both breathing hard.

There was fear in her eyes, she tried to hide it but it was there.

"I am not some puppy from the pound for you to own Lex and I won't be forced …"

Something inside Lex broke.

"Oh God Chloe, I'm so sorry".

She stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean … It wasn't my intention to … I'm not this man. I don't force myself on women, I don't make them stay with me against their will." Shit. He was turning into his father. He watched her tremble slightly.

Making sure his voice was soft he reached out to cup her face. "I'll give you a reference. I'll give you whatever you want. I'll do anything to make you happy even if that means you leaving … please don't leave".

"Lex", she started, not knowing what to say. The raw emotion in his eyes couldn't be faked. She ached. Ached to be wanted, need like that. She knew what it was like to feel like that, she had always been the one desperate for affection and receiving none … until Jimmy.

She was torn. "You swear that you will tell me the truth?"

"I swear it on the memory of my mother", Lex said and made the sign of the cross.

"Tell me everything that you know about Jimmy". This was it, the deciding moment for the rest of her life.

He sighed. "I don't remember a Jimmy. I did keep an eye on you and demanded that Davis and the others do the same. I knew everyone that you came into contact with – or at least I thought I did – but I don't remember a Jimmy. I assume that it is short for James"

Chloe nodded.

"To the best of my recollection there were quite a few James' on the military bases, I wasn't aware that any of them went by Jimmy though. He must have been American, the British generally prefer Jamie", he tried to figure this all out.

She nodded again. She didn't trust herself to speak.

"You didn't leave your room for the first 6 months and Davis was always around for the 6 after that so it must have been once you were in the UK, but not someone who was British", he continued the deductive process.

Another nod.

"That would make him either James Cobb or Henry James Olsen".

"I didn't know that his first name was Henry", Chloe whispered, more to herself than Lex.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I see that you were really close". He could have kicked himself, that wasn't the way to make her trust him or tell him what was going on.

"We were, I agreed to be his wife", Chloe said emotionlessly.

Lex looked as if he had swallowed something sharp.

"He's the one who had that problem in Italy …" He trailed off as he remembered what had happened. He had been sad when he had heard of it, a young man with such a future … it really was a pity.

"Yes". She felt numb.

He wanted to hold her, to comfort her and tell her that it would be alright, that he would make it better but he knew that he couldn't. Feeling that he should say something nevertheless, he tried, "I didn't know that you knew him. Davis never told me".

"Davis never knew".

Lex stared at her. "Chloe", he ran his thumb along her flesh. "I swear that I didn't know that there was anything between you, I didn't even know that you knew each other let alone that you were engaged. Had I known … I would have done something".

She didn't say anything.

"You do believe me, don't you?" He asked, his other hand running up and down the length of her arm.

"I …" She focused on him. His voice and face told her that he was telling her the truth. He had sworn on his mother's memory, that had to mean that he was telling her the truth. His touch was even warm and pleasant, it made her want to believe him. Yearn to believe him just so that she wouldn't have to pull away from him. She didn't want to leave him. He had to be sincere.

His display of temper earlier had just been because he cared so much about her and she needed to be cared about … but she could not help but remember how similar it had been to one years before. She shivered as she remembered Lionel, his hands all over her, holding her down, pushing her against the cave wall, hiding her in the shadows.

Afterwards he too had caressed her arm. He had looked at her with an expression almost as honest as Lex's and yet she had known that Lionel was lying, but if she hadn't been the one underneath him only a few minutes before she would never have believed him to have been anything but sincere. No one would have, that was why she had told no one. She had been at the mercy of the power of the Luthors once, she would not let herself fall again. She would not believe lies again. You didn't trust anything but the facts and the facts said quite clearly that Lex knew more about her than he should ever have been able to find out without someone on the inside. That person had to be Jimmy, otherwise there was no explanation.

She should leave right then and there. That was the only sensible option, however she couldn't make her legs work and there was a voice in her head screaming at her to stay. Trying to negotiate with herself she gave herself a few more seconds to think, she might come up with some explanation that would clear both Jimmy and Lex. If her brain would just work she might be able to. She ran through all of the options but it still came out only one way. Well, she reasoned, she might think of something better before the morning or at least be able to work out how best to respond to the problem; there was no sense in burning bridges unless she knew that that was her only option. She was rationalising and she knew it. She wanted to stay near to Lex, in spite of everything.

"Chloe, I am telling you the truth. I am a really good liar, I mean really good and you have just told me that you could forgive me if I had done whatever it is that you think I have done if I told you the truth. It would be so easy for me right now to give in to temptation, to make up some story but I'm not going to. I am telling you the truth", Lex tried desperately to think of something that would make her believe him and make her stay.

"I don't think that I am in any position to make a decision tonight, I will decide tomorrow morning", she said with all of the strength that she could muster before leaving the room before she could do something stupid like say she didn't care whether he was lying, she wanted to believe him and demand that he held her until she felt less alone, miserable and confused.

Chloe lay awake in her bed. She had tried to read a book. She had taken a long scented bath. She had listened to music. She had done yoga. Nothing had worked. Nothing could stop her from thinking about Lex and Jimmy.

Her mind whirled, but nothing got sorted. She couldn't focus on any one moment, any one feeling she was just so tired and yet sleep would not come. She had barely slept for the month before and one night's worth hadn't been enough for her to catch up. Her head throbbed, her heart ached, her throat had a ball in it only beat in size by the one in her stomach. She needed a few hours of sleep at least if she wanted to have any chance of thinking clearly and coming up with a solution to all of this … or at least making sense of it.

She grabbed the bottle of pills on her nightstand and – without checking the dosage – poured a bunch into her hand and threw them back.

"Shit", she thought as she remembered how strong they were. One would have been enough. Two would have been too many and she had taken …


	16. Chapter 15: Part Two

**Chapter Fifteen: Part Two**

"Damn it", Chloe swore as she flung back her covers and scrambled to her feet. How could she have done something so unbelievably stupid? She had been lying there feeling sorry for herself and hadn't been thinking about what she had actually been doing. What if she hadn't realised in time? What if she had just gone to sleep? The image of her father and Lois crying over her lifeless pale form made her feel sick. That was probably a good thing, she decided as she staggered into the bathroom. It would make her next job put easier.

She grabbed a bobble off the side and tied her hair back before easing herself onto her knees in front of the toilet. She lifted the lid up with one hand and closed her eyes, bringing her other hand to her lips. She had promised herself that she would never have to do this again when she was 12 and had briefly experimented with the idea of making herself sick to avoid gaining weight. It was a disgusting practice but, in this case, necessary.

Without trying to think of it too much she forced her fingers down her throat. She coughed a little but it wasn't enough, she cringed as she jammed them further down. She gagged but kept going, then she coughed. She squeezed her eyes even more tightly shut as she braced herself.

She was sick.

Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she felt the tablets coming back up, completely undigested. She opened her eyes to check, yes all of the tablets where in the bowel surrounded by things which had been far more appetising before they had been digested. The sight was too much for her and she threw up again. All of Martha's hard work had been for nothing, but at least that meant that there could definitely be none of the tablets left in her system.

Chloe wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, closed the lid and flushed before falling back against the wall. The tiles chilled her through the thin cotton but it was almost welcome she was now so overly hot. She felt terrible. Ten times worse than she had a few minutes ago, now her throat burned terribly and her mouth tasted horribly sour.

Collecting her strength, she got up and shuffled over to the vanity unit where the sight that met her in the mirror caused her to burst into tears. She looked terrible. She was pathetic. She slipped out of Jimmy's t-shirt, leaving it in the laundry hamper, and washed her hands and face thoroughly before brushing her teeth until she tasted blood. It wasn't enough. She took a long, scaldingly hot shower but she still felt dirty and awful. Even as she drenched herself in body spritz, and put on new panties and another one of Jimmy's shirts she didn't feel any better.

She went back to bed, keeping the lamp on hoping that that would somehow make everything alright. She tried to snuggle into the shirt but it didn't work. It just smelled like detergent. She wanted a real live human being there to hold her. It was the way that she had felt before she had met Jimmy on the base, when she hadn't been so exhausted at the end of the day that she couldn't think.

Chloe had never let Jimmy spend the entire night with her. They had sex which left them both exhausted, then he left. He would have stayed if she had asked, she could have held him every single day, but she hadn't. She closed her eyes, she had to sleep and not think about him.

It was no good. The memories come flooding back and she knew that it was never going to work. She was being ridiculous. She was just overly emotional because she was over tired. She just needed some sleep and, she reasoned, that justified anything she did to get it.

Lex stared after her as she left the office. He wanted to go after her but he stopped himself with a level of self-control that he had not previously known he even possessed. She had said that she would at least stay that night, him going after her now might make her change her mind and leave right then. He had to prove to her that he could control himself and that he wasn't going to hurt her.

He wasn't sure what his next move should be. He wanted to get on his laptop and research as much about Henry James Olsen as he could, but then he would know too much. If Chloe was going to ask him more questions the next day and he knew all of the answers it would look too suspicious.

Scotch. That was the Luthor family solution to emotions and it was what Lex turned to that night. Scotch and whiskey.

Anything that stopped him from thinking about how close he was to losing Chloe and how he had acted that evening was welcome. Anything that could help to numb the pain was a blessing.

As he sat and drank he stared into the flames, if he looked closely enough he was almost certain that he could see Chloe's face in some of them – although that was probably the alcohol. He was staring so fixedly that he did not notice at first when the door was opened.

Chloe didn't know what had possessed her as she made her way to Lex's room that night, or why she felt so hurt when she saw no light on and received no reply when she knocked on his door. There was no reason why he should put up with the way that she had treated him (they were in his house after all, he didn't have to put up with anyone talking back to him) and there was certainly no reason why he should be awake in the middle of the night just because she needed him.

Her heart sinking a little further she made her way to the kitchen to see if they had some cough syrup so at least her throat wouldn't hurt her but as she did that she noticed a light coming from further down the corridor. It was coming from Lex's office.

There was no way that Lex could still be up, was there? He didn't have any more work that night.

Feeling a little foolish she knocked on the door but when she didn't receive a reply thought about retreating but the awful feeling only increased at the thought of that and so she pushed the door open.

She saw him, sitting there with his back to her.

"Lex". Her whisper was barely audible but sent every hair on the back of Lex's neck shooting up.

"Chloe?" He turned around to see her, at once delighted and horrified. Was she there to tell him that she had decided to leave right then, that she couldn't even stand to spend one more night in the mansion?

"This doesn't change anything", she warned him, still only just making herself heard over the fire.

She didn't have to say anymore, he knew what she meant. Before she knew it, she was wrapped in his arms.

"This doesn't change anything", she repeated weakly.


	17. Chapter 16: Part One

**Chapter Sixteen: Part One**

Lex held her close, stroking her hair and her back as she murmured something into his chest that sounded like, "I can't sleep. The thoughts, the nightmares, the fear … they are only afraid of you". At that moment she could have recited the words to "I'm a little teapot", and it wouldn't have stopped his heart from soaring.

He cursed himself, she was obviously distressed and that bothered him, it really did but not enough to stop him delighting in the feel of her in his arms or that she had come to him. He was a sick manipulative bastard for feeling anything but concerned at that moment. He should just be focusing on her … But she had come to him, the voice in the back of his head reminded him. True he was the only one in the house but she could have called the Kents, Clark or Lois would have been over there within 10 minutes. She could have called Lana. But she had come to him.

She nestled perfectly in his arms and he could feel her softening slightly. She trusted him. Whatever her mouth said. Whatever her head tried to convince her of. She must trust him, otherwise she wouldn't have come to him. She wasn't afraid of him and she trusted him. The fact that he got to hold her was just the icing on the cake. However many times she said that this didn't change anything he knew that it did, and he was not going to lose her.

"Come on", he said, finally ending the embrace only to put out the fire. He walked over to the door, holding it open with one hand and holding the other one out to her. "Let's go to bed".

Chloe studied him for a moment. She had come to him for comfort, afraid of being turned away but now that he was offering it she was also afraid. She was sick of feeling like this. Trying not to feel timid she took his hand and allowed him to lead her out of the room and down the corridor.

As the moved through the hallways she replayed their brief exchange in her head, looking for hidden clues – her reporters instincts hadn't dulled much during her incarceration. One word stuck out. Bed. He had said the word bed, she had not said that. She hadn't said anything about her needing him, about needing to be in his arms to stop the nightmares – at least she didn't think that she had. She stared up at him, he did not appear to be disgusted or pitying and that was something at least. But he had definitely said the word bed.

She assumed that they were heading back to her room but they walked right passed it and over to Lex's. She had never realised before quite how close their rooms were. They were barely a few metres walk from one another.

Lex noticed her look of confusion as they passed her room but didn't say anything, she had come to him this time and it was going to be as he wanted. He was going to take her to his room, he was going to prove to her that there was a very real place for her in this house and in his life - and it sure as hell wasn't in the bloody guest room. As they reached his door he tried to ignore the fantasies he had of bringing her to his room before. She hadn't looked quite so anxious in those dreams; she had been warm and willing. He gave himself a mental shake, nothing like that was going to happen that night so there was no point in getting himself all worked up. She wasn't there because she was attracted to him, she was there because she needed him and he was going to be the perfect gentleman – whatever his DNA demanded of him.

He drank in the sight of her. She was standing there waiting for him to open the door, clearly nervous, pressing one bare foot on top of the other. Once again she was drowned in another cotton t-shirt which made her seem even younger and more vulnerable than she actually was. Her dark hair was pulled back messily and she looked a little flushed. He brought the hand that he still held up to his lips and brushed his lips against it, without thinking.

Chloe didn't balk at the action; it seemed oddly natural for them. She scoffed at herself. What the hell was natural between them? He was a bald billionaire whose father she had had put in prison, she was a nosey reporter who had got herself in too deep, been in hiding for around five years and now had so many issues that she couldn't even sleep by herself. If 15 year old Chloe had met her she would have told her to grow up and get over it. 3 year old Chloe would have told her that she was a big girl and could sleep without the nightlight.

As if sensing that she was getting too caught up in her own – not entirely productive thoughts – Lex opened the door and hoped to joke her out of it. "You now have the distinction of being the only woman to ever have been welcomed into my bedroom … other than the maid".

Ever alert for incongruences, Chloe stated, "You were married twice".

"Yes, but they both had their own rooms, I just visited and then returned to my room afterwards", Lex explained as he kept hold of her hand even though it was no longer strictly necessary.

"Booty calls whilst married. That's pretty impressive", Chloe tried to joke, actually thinking that it sounded rather sad. Neither of Lex's wives had deserved him. He had just wanted love, he had been so desperate for it that he had been married twice within as many years and he had been screwed over both times.

"I like to think so", he said as if bragging.

Oh this wasn't good. Even through his tone she could tell that he had been hurt and God help her she cared. She shouldn't care. She wasn't sure that she could trust him. Jimmy might have been a plant. He might have been playing her all of this time. The heartbreak of watching him … No, she wasn't going to go there. The point was to be able to get a good night's sleep. She would think about everything else tomorrow morning.

Still not having looked in his room yet, nor entered it she tried to quip, "So, really a tip then? Can't allow any women in there? Or is it that there are so many half naked pictures of women on the walls that you can't let them in?"

"No".

"What? The pictures are not of women?" She pretended to look shocked.

"Get inside", he growled, finally letting go of her hand to give her gentle shove inside, before closing the door and hurrying over to her to take her hand again.

"Wow", she exclaimed, her snarkiness and a good portion of her doubts forgotten as she looked around in awe. "This place is huge." Chloe stared, almost drooling, at one of the paintings on the walls, "Is that an original? What am I saying? Of course it is. Although I thought that it was in the Louvre".

"They have a copy, I have the original", he shrugged.

Chloe stared at him suspiciously for a second. Would he really have …? No, she didn't want to know. "This place is gorgeous", she continued looking around.

"I like it", he said with false modesty.

"You decorate it yourself? Well, I mean did you pick it out yourself, not do the actual painting and lifting", Chloe clarified her question.

"Yes", he answered, feeling a little put out that she didn't think that he was capable of doing the actual decorating. Of course, he hadn't. But that was just because he didn't feel like it and had better things to do with his time, not because he couldn't have.

Apparently unaware of Lex's discomfort she stared at the fireplace. "It's so lovely. The fireplace …" She broke off and blushed. "Sorry, this is really inappropriate". She hadn't been invited in here to snoop.

"No, it's not. You should never feel uncomfortable here. So, do you have a preferred side of the bed?" He wondered trying to make her feel as at home as possible, whilst ignoring the reasons that Chloe might have for having a preferred side of the bed.

"No, I've never … I never spent the entire night with someone", she admitted.

"Except me, last night", he smirked, he couldn't help it.

"Yes, except you. Last night".

He gave her a smile, "Well then you can sleep on the left, it is nearer the fireplace and I was watching QI and Steven Fry showed evidence that women are far more likely to be cold during the night".

Chloe returned his smile, repeating her mantra that this would not change anything. The only reason why she was there was so that the bad feeling would go away – which it had. She allowed herself to be led around and watched, trying not to giggle, as Lex pulled back the covers and helped her into bed, covering her back up. His fingers remained laced with hers as if he didn't want to let go, until he had to. He kissed her knuckles and told her, "I'll be back in a second".

He was trying to sound calm and as if he weren't petrified that she was going to leave. He walked as normally as he could to the bathroom, but once there he scrubbed his face, brushed his teeth and slipped into his jogging bottoms in under a minute then walked back out trying to look casual.

Chloe listened to the sounds of him getting ready and smiled a little. However calm he tried to appear, she could tell that he was anxious. It made her feel a little giddy that she could have that effect on Lex Luthor. As he reappeared she tried very hard not to notice how delectable he looked, not realising that he was having much the same thoughts. As he looked down at her, Lex didn't think that his bed had ever looked quite so inviting.

The mattress was so large and firm that it didn't even move under Lex's weight as he got in. Chloe also remained stock still. Lex felt her nervousness and knew that it was up to him to take the lead. He moved over slightly and used one hand to raise her head as he slipped his arm under her neck as they had the night before. She allowed it, and automatically turned, placing her hand on his chest, he wrapped his arm around her waist, hugging her close, she moved her leg across on of his and he stroked her hair.

A contented sigh left Chloe's lips, without her intending it, as she snuggled into him. She was exhausted, everything that had had happened in the last month had been terrible but she could sleep now. He was so comfy. She couldn't understand how his wives had ever tried to kill him; he was the perfect pillow cum radiator.

"Tell me", his voice was soft and she craned her neck to see his face. "Whatever it is your thinking about, tell me".

He looked, and sounded, so sincere. In that moment she couldn't help but want to tell him everything, but she knew that she couldn't.

Sensing her about to refuse, "At least tell me whatever it was that prompted you to seek me out tonight, not that I am complaining. I need to know, if I am going to help you".

She considered this for a moment; it would be a good test. If he had known about Jimmy then nothing she told him would be new information, and if he hadn't then there was no point in keeping things from him. Besides, he was right. She would have to talk about it at some point.

"I was thinking about the first time that I met Jimmy", she told him only part of the truth. There was no way that she was telling him about almost overdosing on pills.

"Go on".


	18. Chapter 16: Part Two

**Chapter Sixteen: Part Two**

_A couple of weeks after her father's visit and her uncle's departure Chloe was depressed. She had gone through yet another day of training and language learning, interspersed with random walks around the base but nothing would lift her spirits. She knew that things were technically better for her here than they had been in America and that she would get to see her Dad more regularly now, but she wanted to see him right then. She wanted to see her friends. Hell, she at least wanted to see Davis but he too had left a few days before on some mission he couldn't talk about._

_She sighed. She was being selfish and petty and she knew it. They had jobs to do, the military base was safe and they couldn't just spend all of their time cooped up there with her but she had really grown used to having someone to share her meals with in the last few months. Going back – more or less – to how the first few months had been was even more difficult now._

_Chloe kicked at a stone as she wandered around in-between large army buildings. At least now she could walk around by herself and get some fresh air – even if she couldn't go off the base. She wondered where Davis was then, whether he was thinking of her. Probably he was, she was fairly certain that he had put off his mission for a couple of weeks so that he could make sure that she was settled – which she was. She knew who everyone else, where everything was. She didn't get scared of stupid things anymore … well not that often. She had her routine down and Davis would be back in a few days. She had to snap out of this._

_It was time for dinner, she would normally head for the officer's mess then and found her feet heading in that direction but when she was already virtually outside it she reconsidered. She only ate in there because that was where Davis – and normally Dru and Victor – ate and demanded her company. She wasn't an officer, she had no right to be in there without them._

_She was just about to amble back to her room when the smell hit her and her stomach rumbled. She considered. She was ostensibly the daughter of a three star general; she could go anywhere she wanted. If she ordered her food it would take 20 minutes, if she went it now she could be eating in 20 seconds. _

_Greed won out. She would just have to get used to going around alone. Besides, although she was now Lucy Lane she was still Chloe Sullian and there was no way that Chloe would ever have been worried about going into a room just because she didn't have an escort and she wasn't sure where she fit in. That was pathetic. She really had to get a grip on herself. Chloe Sullivan was the woman who had doggedly pestered everyone – even the great Lex Luthor – until he had given in and allowed her to interview him._

_Chloe went in, got her food and sat down at her regular table. She started to eat, it was very good but as she tucked in she looked around the room. She was lonely and she was bored and people watching had always been a hobby of hers. Everything was the same as normal; they were all sitting in the same places, all talking about the same things, except for one person. _

_There was a new man there. He didn't look like he could have been more than 20, if that. He looked younger but that could have just been because he was baby faced. He only 6 foot, a respectable height to be certain but made him look much smaller than the other men in the room who were all a good 5 inches taller than him. He had dark auburn hair which curled slightly. He looked sweet with a smattering of freckles across his nose and a smile, which was a little timid._

_Her heart went out of him. He was holding his tray and looking around the room looking a little lost. She remembered her first day at Smallville Middle School. Everyone had already known everyone and she knew no one. She and her father had just moved over from Metropolis and she hated nearly everything about Smallville. She had briefly considered just throwing her lunch away and going to the library to do some reading until she had spotted Clark. It had been love at first sight, and not being shy she had made a bee line for him and asked if she could sit down – right after she had actually sat down._

_She smiled at the memory. She caught the man's eye and was about to offer him a seat next to her when someone yelled at him. Looking in the direction of the noise Chloe saw that it was Brian, one of the younger British officers. He would probably be happy at that table, from what she had seen Brian was quite nice._

"_Wholesome Olsen, get over here", someone else at the table seconded the invitation._

_He gave her a polite nod and then went to sit where he had been told to, seeming not to be at all bothered by the teasing._

_Chloe couldn't help but feel disappointed. She turned her eyes to her food but strained her ears; she had become quite adept at listening in to conversations._

"_Don't you know who that is?" She couldn't just make out one of the officers asking._

"_No". It was the first time that she had heard his voice. He was American, probably front Granville based on his accent. He made her feel a little less homesick. He had a nice voice, warm but not too deep. It wasn't like Lex's, it was like a boy her own age._

"_That is Lucy Lane, General Lane's daughter", someone supplied. Chloe rolled her eyes._

"_So what is she doing here and sitting all by herself?" It was an innocent enough question to Chloe's ears and she couldn't understand why there were so many scoffs in answer. _

"_Where have you been?"_

"_Iraq, you?" Jimmy replied and Chloe moved her head forwards so that her hair fell down obscuring her face and giving her the opportunity to spy through it for a second before tucking it back behind her ear and returning her gaze to her plate. _

_Brian had blushed at the comment; apparently he had not yet seen action. Chloe couldn't help but be concerned that the newcomer had. He looked far too young to be risking his life._

"_Well you didn't hear it from me but I was talking with some of the men over in America, base to base stuff you know. Anyway, about a year ago General Lane brought his daughter in. She moved around with him but is here while he goes on special ops because Bloom is taking care of her"._

"_Where is Bloom?" His tone made it evident that he had been told all about Davis. It was interesting, Chloe had been able to find out absolutely nothing about him as there were no records and yet the name Bloom inspired terror in so many._

"_Also on an op but the base is safe enough", someone – Chloe was fairly certain that it was Toby – explained._

"_Why so much security for one girl?"_

_Chloe could practically hear the shrugs._

"_We don't know. The story is that she was out of control". That was definitely Jeremy._

"_She doesn't look like the type", Olsen sounded thoughtful. Chloe could tell that he was staring at her and tried to continue eating as if she couldn't hear them – which a normal person probably wouldn't have been able to over the general background noise of the canteen._

"_Agreed, but you know how these things are. The strange thing is that I know his other daughter Lois, and she hasn't ever been to see her sister from what I've heard."_

_Chloe dropped her spoon in her soup, but covered by pretending that her phone had rung and that it had been the vibrations that had caused her slip. She pulled it out and stared at it as if reading a text, all the while blinking back tears._

"_What else do you know?" He sounded genuinely interested. Chloe snorted, it figured that the first man to be interested in her that wasn't a meteor freak didn't even know her name._

"_She's only been England a couple of weeks, she spends all of her time in her room, training or studying", Brian explained, through what sounded like a mouthful of food. Honestly, Chloe had been informed that all of the English had perfect manners._

"_Certainly makes early morning work outs more fun doesn't it, seeing her sweating and … Oomph"._

_Chloe winced at the sound of Jeremy being hit on the back of the head. There were several sniggers. _

"_I do it for your own good", Brian assured him, "You can look – and believe me, everyone does – but you don't touch"._

_It really was amazing what one could find out, listening in on other's conversations. Chloe briefly wondered what Clark would have thought of that but then buried the thought. Thinking of Clark would only make her melancholy and this was the first bit of fun that she had in … well she couldn't remember. _

"_Bit rough on the poor girl isn't it; being left on base in a foreign country without any family"._

"_Aww", Chloe thought to herself. He was a sweetie._

"_Yeah, it probably is. But take my advice mate and leave her well enough alone. The men who look after her could bench press you". It was Brian again._

_Chloe manoeuvred her knife so that she could watch his reaction to that. He just smiled and went on eating. She wasn't sure whether she should be flattered or annoyed that so much interest was apparently taken in her around the base. _

_She wondered what Wholesome Olsen's first name was. He did look wholesome. Dependable. Not to mention trustworthy. And cute._

_The new boy ate quickly and then said, "Thanks for the company lads, but as you have implied that I could be bench-pressed, I had better go and hit the gym". There were laughs and the sounds of hands slapping him on the back and then he left._

_Chloe didn't look up. She ate the rest of her dinner and then left via the opposite door. She considered going back to her room but then thought that there was no reason for that. She was allowed to walk around. A little trip to the gym might be just what she needed._

Lex listened with interest to Chloe's tale as her voice got quieter and quieter until eventually giving out completely, signalling that she had fallen asleep. Lex tightened his grip around her slightly and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that Chloe, but I promise you that I knew nothing about Jimmy and that I will eventually make you forget all about him", he whispered.

As he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, he did not even entertain the thought that he might lose her.


	19. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

Chloe moved around in her sleep a little but feeling Lex's arms around her settled back down. It had been five hours since she had fallen asleep; it was too much to hope that she would get an entire eight hours without any dreams. Luckily Lex was so exhausted from the fright that she had given him that evening that he was still dead to the world and didn't pick up on anything.

_Using the routes she knew didn't contain security cameras Chloe soon arrived outside the gym and before her courage could fail her she pushed open the door and let it make a noise as it closed after her. _

_The room only had one other occupant and she was happy to see that she had been right and that it was the new boy. He was just sitting on a stack of mats looking rather unconcerned until he heard the noise. He looked over, saw her and smiled. He jumped down from the mats and walked over to her._

_Chloe smiled back. He had obviously been waiting for her. _

"_Jimmy Olsen", he said, sticking his hand out to her._

_She retracted slightly as she always did but pushed passed it and shook his hand, "Lucy Lane", the lie tasted bitter._

"_Nice to meet you Miss Lane". He had a good handshake, not too weak but not overly strong as if he were trying to weld her knuckles together either._

"_You too, Mr Olsen", she replied. _

"_Please call me Jimmy", he grinned. It seemed to be his habitual expression._

_Chloe wanted to tell him to call her Chloe but she caught herself at the last moment and said, "And you must call me Lucy"._

"_I was informed that I should, under no circumstances ever speak to you", he said, as if he weren't aware that she had been listening in to their entire conversation._

"_Do you think that I am dangerous?" She teased him._

"_No", he shook his head. "Just bored and lonely"._

_She ducked her head and fiddled with her hair. He took a step forwards, he was just going to put his hand on her shoulder but Chloe darted backwards. _

"_Oh God Lucy, I'm sorry. I didn't know"._

"_Know what? That I'm a snob and that I don't like to be touched", she tried to shrug it off. _

_Jimmy took a step back, "I didn't know what had happened to you. But it makes more sense than that you would have done something bad enough for your Dad to make you stay here to keep an eye on you"._

"_I don't know what you are talking about", Chloe lied, hating herself … and him for having worked it out. No one else had. "I'm leaving"._

"_No, please don't. You don't want to talk about it. That's okay. We can talk about me", Jimmy offered walking back over to the mats and hoping up, hoping that if he didn't crowd her she would come over to him. It worked. Chloe's interest was piqued, she liked to nose around people's personal lives and she hadn't had the chance since she had been on the base. The others didn't have personal lives._

"_Okay let's talk about you Jimmy. How old are you?" Chloe asked as she followed him across the room, but kept her distance._

"_I'm 19", he answered simply._

"_Bit young to be an officer, aren't you? Most have finished University. Are you a genius or something?" She wondered._

"_No", he ran his hand through his hair, "nothing like that. I didn't even finish High School"._

"_Really? You look like the kind of guy who would have"._

"_You mean that I look like a geek?" He smiled at her, not taking offense. "I am, I'm just not really smart and I'm not an officer, well not technically"._

_Chloe looked interested. "You are from the States?"_

"_Yeah, I was born and raised in Metropolis. My Dad was a really good guy, he ran a successful mechanics business until I was five years old, even after my mother left we did alright. Then one day a baby turned up on our doorstep." He gave a bitter laugh, "Turns out that my mother had had a baby with the man she had run off with and hadn't felt like keeping it so she sent him back to be with Dad"._

"_That's terrible", Chloe couldn't help herself. "I know what it is like to lose your mother at a young age"._

_He looked at her in interest._

"_She died", Chloe supplied lamely, remembering just in time that she was supposed to be Lucy, not Chloe. "Did your Dad keep the baby?"_

"_Yeah, tried his best to do what was best for him but …" he broke off. "It was difficult for him. He started drinking and lost his business, which just made the drinking worse. He went from being his own boss to a part time mechanic"._

"_I'm sorry", Chloe said, not knowing what else to say._

"_It's alright", Jimmy said with a shrug. He would have liked to have dropped the conversation but he knew where this had to lead so he pushed on. _

"_It must have been hard on you"._

"_It was worse for my little brother James. He got the brunt of Dad's anger; he wasn't even his flesh and blood after all. I tried to stand up for him as much as possible, make sure that he was never left alone with Dad and stuff like that but it took its toll on my school work", he tried to distance himself from the memories._

"_He was lucky to have a brother like you", Chloe said honestly._

_Feeling that he should have done more, Jimmy brushed it off. "Anyway, luckily for me and for James I did go in to school one day and your father", his eyes narrowed her at Chloe's tiny reaction to these words and stored it away for later investigation, "saw me. He was there to tell boys to stay in school etc. He came over and spoke to me afterwards, asking where the black eye I was sporting came from, told me about self-defence classes. I was so shocked that I blurted out that I couldn't hit my Dad and … well the whole story came out"._

"_I bet my", only the slightest of pauses, "Dad didn't like that". Chloe was certain that her Uncle would have paid the mechanic a visit and ensured that there was a little accident which involved a wrench inserted somewhere painfully._

"_No, he didn't. Next thing I knew we were on a military base. My brother was sent away to military school where he would get a great education and learn a trade. Then he asked me what I wanted to do …"_

"_And …"_

"_I told him the truth. I have always wanted to be a photographer. I want to find out the news but more than that, I wanted to give a voice to people who didn't have one", he studied her reactions very carefully. "I knew what it was like to be powerless, to be knocked around by someone who was meant to be protecting you but much worse things happen to other people. Much worse things happen to women. I thought that if I could help give these people a voice then my life would be worth something, that somehow that would make up for every time I hadn't been there and my father had hit James. Make up for every day I didn't tell the school what was happening"._

_Chloe sat down on the mats, a good metre away from him. "You did what you could"._

"_It wasn't enough", he scoffed._

"_You went to Iraq?" She asked, trying not to let him get bogged down in guilt which from what she could see was completely unmerited._

"_Yeah", he said, not bragging. "And South Africa before that. There are a lot of abuses that go on in the world and someone needs to photograph them", he chuckled. "You probably think that I am something out of some old movie. I know that it isn't fashionable to be concerned with journalism, nearly everything is tabloids now. But, I don't know, I think that it is still possible to report on the news, to get to the bottom of things, to show people what is going on in the world. If I had the talent I would write about it, but I don't. All that I can do is point a camera and let the story tell itself."_

_He took his phone out of his pocket and flicked through a few photos before showing her one, "This little girl is only 8 years old and yet she was supposed to be married that day", he looked like he might be sick. "No one can see her face and think that she is just some statistic"._

"_I don't think that that is stupid at all", Chloe assured him, fighting back tears as she saw the little girl's face. "I was a reporter in High School. But I focused on tales of the weird and unexplained rather than things like this"._

"_I'm sure that if something untoward had been going on you would have reported on that too", he said._

"_Yes, but that got me in trouble". She realised that she had said too much and handed his phone back with a word of thanks._

"_The point is Lucy, that I have photographed hundreds of girls like this, and ones who have been abused. I recognise the look, the fear of being touched", he was treading on dangerous ground now and he knew it._

_Chloe's eyes were full of fear as she looked up at him._

"_Did someone hurt you Chloe? Was it someone on the base or is that the reason that you are here in the first place?" If her General Lane didn't know, he would have to be informed._

_She shook her head. "It was nothing like that. I …" his eyes were so kind and she needed to talk to someone so she talked to him. "When I was in High School I got involved with someone older than me. He was bad news, I knew it but I thought that I would be able to control the relationship, but I was wrong. It wasn't anything sexual EVER! At least not on my part. For a while everything went well but then he wanted things from me that I wasn't willing to give. He was powerful and started to threaten me and my family. I had friends in high places and well … he ended up in jail"._

"_But he did something to you first, didn't he?"_

Something was bothering Lex. He didn't know what but something was not right. Slowly he woke up and prodded his brain into telling him the answer. He didn't feel ill. He wasn't aware that he was running late for anything. His father was dead. He was alone in bed. He was alone in his bed. Where was Chloe?

He jerked upright.

"Chloe?"


	20. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

"Chloe?" Lex asked again as he fumbled around for the lamp. Where was the damned thing? It had always been there before. After a few more seconds he found it and finally succeeded in flicking it on. He had deliberately not turned it on the night before to get Chloe used to the darkness, now he regretted it. As light finally illuminated the room he heard Chloe's voice and his heart started to beat once more.

"I'm here", she announced walking over to the bed and popping what looked like a tray in the centre of the bedspread.

He blinked a few times to clear his vision and asked, "Where did you go?" trying to keep the note of fear out of his voice. He looked down at the tray of sandwiches and drinks.

"Your stomach was growling. Then I realised that you hadn't had chance to eat because of what happened." She looked guilty. "And you were just drinking in your study", anger washed over her features only to be then tinged with a little more guilt; she was the reason why he had been drinking. "And I figured that there was no way that you could possibly be sleeping well without food in your stomach and that you would eventually wake up and so I went and I made sandwiches".

Lex stared at her for a couple of seconds; he was touched – although he would rather have starved than wake up without her by his side. "I didn't even know that you could cook", he commented wondering what this meant for her threats to leave the following morning. The night before when she had come to him he had been so confident that she would never leave him but his awake up scare had knocked his confidence. She cared about his comfort, that had to mean something. Right?

"Don't get over excited. I can only do three types of pasta, one type of cookie and sandwiches", she warned. "Well, and a wide variety of coffees".

He smiled as he remembered Chloe's lamentable eating habits from her early teen years. He remembered vividly watching her chase Pete around the Kents' farm with a French fry when he was on a health kick because of his interest in karate. It hadn't taken long for the boy to allow himself to be caught and fed. He scowled.

Chloe noticed the scowl and looked worried so he shot her a smile to show that it had nothing to do with her and pulled himself up into a proper sitting position to eat one of the sandwiches. It was very good; she hadn't scrimped on the fillings. Noticing that she wasn't eating he offered her one.

"Then you won't have enough", Chloe protested, watching him thoughtfully as if trying to see if his drinking binge from the previous night would have any lasting damage.

Laughing, he explained, "I don't eat like Clark, or like one of the guys on the base. Two entire metre long French sticks is enough for me, I can leave one for you".

"Ok, thanks", she acquiesced and began nibbling. Oddly enough she hadn't actually thought of her eating before but now that she tasted the food she realised that she was hungry, ravenous in fact. It made sense she supposed; she hadn't eaten much with the Kents still not quite comfortable and then had thrown even that up.

They munched in companionable silence for a little while before Lex got his courage up and said, "I take it that it wasn't my stomach that woke you up".

"No", she admitted. The imprints her teeth had left on her sandwich were really rather interesting if one stared hard enough at them.

"Bad dream?" He inquired, certain that she would not just have woken up for no reason or because his stomach had growled; she would have to have been already awake to hear that. He had noticed the night before that when she was asleep she was dead to the world.

"Not exactly", she avoided the question and his eyes.

With a sigh he pulled her back against him with one arm so that they were both leaning against the headboard.

"You know, it is never going to get any better if you don't talk to someone about it", he told her.

"What if I talk about it and it just gets worse?" She voiced her fear. Speaking about it made it more vivid, it was ten times worse than the dreams she had and that was saying something.

"That's what I'm here for. Besides, it doesn't seem to me like not talking about is stopping it replaying over and over again in your head", he rubbed her shoulder.

She couldn't tell him. He would judge her. He would think her the worst person in the world. He would detest her. He … he had to have sent Jimmy. It was the only way that made sense that both Lex and Jimmy had known so much that they should have had no way of knowing. It was the only way that didn't make her the worst person on the face of the planet for the way that she had used Jimmy.

Chloe slammed her eyes shut but she just saw Jimmy's face.

"Alright, I'll tell you", she gave in, turning and hugging Lex tightly, sure that this would be the last time that he ever held her. He would be far too disgusted afterwards.

Lex put down his sandwich and cuddled her properly.

"Every evening there was a period of time that we would both have free and Jimmy and I would meet up in my room for a couple of hours to talk. We discussed everything. Current affairs. Politics. Sometimes we would just watch TV. I found out all about his family and told him some stuff about me. I felt so close to him. He was my only real friend there and I grew to love him, as a friend. But we were both young and …" She struggled to find the words for what they had done.

"It became a sexual relationship", Lex finished for her, trying to remain calm.

Chloe could feel the tension coming from his body and knew that he judged her for being so easy.

"Yes", she admitted, not adding how many times it took for them to get that part right. Jimmy had been so kind and patient with her, always allowing her to be on top so that she shouldn't get scared, only touching her occasionally at first until she was more comfortable. Agreeing to keeping the majority of their clothes on as it made her more comfortable not to be looked at too much.

God she had been a pain to him and it wasn't as if couldn't have just gone off the base and found a nice normal girlfriend, one who didn't mind it when he kissed her.

"He was a really good man. He was so loyal and caring and kind and … and I didn't love him as I ought. He was asked to go along on a mission to be the official correspondent for a few months. It was so dangerous that I didn't want him to go but he said that he had to. That night was different. I wasn't as afraid as I had been before, it was perfect and he … he …

"I love you bright eyes", he told her as she moved over him. He no longer called her Lucy, he hadn't for years now, not since soon after their first meeting when he had worked out that she tensed slightly every time that he did and that that could not possibly be her real name. Now she was always darling, sweetheart or his favourite bright eyes.

"I love you too Jimmy", she was surprised by how easily the words came to her. They had never said these things to each other before, as they had always tried to keep the physical aspects of their relationship separate from their friendship.

He smiled. "Let me see you", his voice was strained.

She hesitated for a moment, she was wearing a lacy negligee but at his earnest request she pulled it over her head. He gasped at her beauty and put his hands on her hips to stay her movements.

"I swear I won't hurt you. I'll never hurt you. When I come back I will make everything right", he declared earnestly.

She knew what he was asking. He was going out tomorrow on a dangerous mission and Chloe just knew that they wouldn't get their happily ever after. This was going to be it. This was the night that she would remember with him for the rest of her life and this was going to be the memory he carried around with him. You didn't deny a man who was already condemned his last wish.

Chloe bit her lip and eased herself off him, sitting on her knees next to him.

Jimmy sat up and pulled his t-shirt off over his head and tossed in on the floor beside her bed. Chloe gulped slightly as she saw the scars that marred his body. She slammed her eyes shut to stop the tears, she wished that he had lived in Smallville. Wished so fervently that she could have known him, helped him before all of this happened.

"Hey sweetheart, it's alright", he promised her stroking the side of her face. She heard him taking something out of his undone trouser pocket before taking them off fully and she opened her eyes.

"I know that it is normal for men who are leaving to ask for a memento to take with them to remember their beloved by. But I have enough photos to fill an album, although I could never forget what your gorgeous face looks like", he whispered to her. "But I would like you to have something from me".

"Jimmy that's not necessary", she tried to assure him but felt him taking her hand.

"Darling, will you accept this?" He placed a simple gold band next to her ring finger on her left hand. "I want you to always have something that will remind you that you have someone, however unworthy, who loves you more than anything else on this earth. Someone who would do anything to make you happy. Someone who prays that he will one day be worthy of making a life with you".

"Yes". There was no other possible answer.

He grinned and slipped the ring on.

Slowly, they sank back onto the bed. Jimmy hovered over her kissing her cheeks and her neck and finally her lips. He was sweet and she could feel the excitement building within her although fear was always present in the back of her mind. He was wonderful and she knew that he would never hurt her intentionally but she also knew that they didn't have a future. Jimmy Olsen's days were numbered.

This would probably be the last time that she ever saw him, ever touched him, ever kissed him. She blinked back the tears; she would have the rest of her life to mourn him. Tonight she would be strong and give him what he wanted: her body and apparently her love.

She ran her hands up and down him moaning as he caressed her and tried not to be afraid or to let herself get tense. If that was the last night that they would ever spend together then he deserved the most amazing experience of his life.

Lex held her close, hating the way that she trembled as she sobbed. He had barely been able to make out the end of her story and it took almost an hour for her to calm down enough for her to speak normally again. He didn't want to push her anymore. It was more than he could bear to see her like this, and he was beginning to think that it might be better to just leave it and to try to just let her heal as she was. No, that was stupid. That was just his way of making things easier on himself without thinking about what was best for Chloe. He knew full well that a wound couldn't heal until it had been cleaned and aired, until then it would just keep reopening and causing pain every time that it did.

Knowing that he had to push on if he was going to get the full story, or at least as much of it was she was up to giving that night, he prompted her, "He survived his trip abroad. You were in Italy when he returned. Was he the reason why you and Davis disappeared only a day after your birthday?"

She nodded.

Chloe woke up the morning after her birthday on the Italian military base, still floating on cloud nine. Last night had been amazing, it had been the first night that her thoughts had not been filled with Jimmy since he had left three weeks ago.

"Hello bright eyes", a voice came from the foot of her bed.

She blinked for a few seconds before throwing herself at the figure there. "Jimmy!" She squealed. Chloe hadn't truly known what he had meant to her until she had seen him sitting there alive and well.

He hugged her and for once she forgot everything that Lionel had done to her.

"Oh God Jimmy, I am so happy to see you", she gushed, pulling back to look at him. He had been somewhere hot, her reporter's eye picked up on the fact that his hair was flecked with gold and his skin was tanned. He also looked as if he beefed up a little more.

"So I see", he laughed and then pulled her close and kissed her. Sensations coursed through her, she felt tingly and warm and safe.

"Did you get what you needed?" She demanded.

"Yes", he smiled as he rubbed her back.

"Good because you are never going away again. I had nightmares that you were dead every day", she told him. That was all that she was going to tell him on that score, she had feared that she was in some way cursed and that being important to her lead people to death and destruction, but here was the proof that she had been wrong. Despite all of her horrific fantasies and bad omens he had gone into a very dangerous situation and had come back alive. The curse, if there had indeed ever been one, must have been broken.

"Well there is no reason to be afraid now, I'm back and I'm back for good. I got a job at a real paper – the Daily Planet – and it is a pretty good pay cheque", he wasn't bragging, Jimmy didn't brag, but he was getting close.

"I am so happy for you Jimmy", she replied honestly.

"I know you are. I want you to come with me", he announced.

Her heart sank. "Jimmy … I can't, my Dad …"

"Your uncle", he corrected her.

She stared at him.

"I worked it out a while ago. That was why I left Chloe. I couldn't bear to see you sitting here worrying your life away. You should be free to enjoy your life. Ever since you told me what that man did to you I made it my mission to find out who you were and who he was. I worked out that it was Lionel Luthor, and once I knew about him it wasn't too difficult to find more dirt on him. He has been smuggling diamonds out of certain African countries without their gangs knowing. I have the photos and all of the evidence now, your Uncle helped me. Once I send these to the police it is just a matter of time until he gets the death sentence. Then justice will be done and you will be free", he explained. The idea of a man being put to death didn't sit well with him, but in this case it was a necessity. He would do anything for Chloe and if that meant staining his soul, well that was a price that he was willing to pay.

Chloe just gaped at him.

"He left me to get ready. He went out to buy me some flowers. He didn't get two metres of the base before it happened", she sobbed.

Lex powerless to anything but pat her back.


	21. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Lex watched the shadows as they crept along the floor. He was not accustomed to sleeping with the lamp on and hadn't realised quite how many patterns his tiffany lamp would cause across the hardwood floors. It was really rather interesting, it … Who was he kidding? It wasn't in the slightly bit interesting it was just the latest thing in a long string that he had been trying to occupy his mind with.

It wasn't working. Just as counting the number of parquet panels he could see hadn't. Trying to recite the all of the monarchs past and present in Europe in reverse order hadn't. Nor had the other ridiculous ideas he had come up with once he had decided that trying to think about anything serious wasn't going to work. Nothing could distract him from the woman who lay in his arms.

Chloe still laid where she had cried herself to sleep many hours ago, in his arms leaning against the headboard. He had clung to her as she had convulsed with sobs, genuinely afraid that she might actually break or make herself sick but powerless to help. When she had finally worn herself out he had replayed her tale over and over in his mind, trying to see if there was anything that he had missed. Anything that he could use to make her feel better, but there wasn't. He had then been through every plan he could come up with only to realise that they were all useless. Then he had started on the silly methods of distraction. Needless to say, those had also proved to be complete and utter failures.

He couldn't sleep. He didn't want to sleep. He didn't care how many hours had passed, didn't care what had gone on in the world outside. His only job in that moment was to try to put Chloe back together again. If only he had some idea of how to go about performing such a task.

Lex looked down at her, even after so long her face was still scared with tears. He clung to her helplessly. He had no idea how to make any of this better. She was miserable and he was partially responsible. Now all he could do was hold her.

At least in sleep she looked almost peaceful, if she could stay like that for a few more hours then maybe he would have worked out some way of making things right. Just as he was thinking this there was a buzzing noise coming from the bathroom. Lex groaned as he realised that he had left his cell phone in the pocket of his trousers. He was tempted to just ignore it, he knew enough of Chloe's sleeping habits to know that it wouldn't wake her up but then he thought that she had told Clark that she would call him. She had no doubt made similar promises to Lois and if they didn't get an answer then they were likely to barge in and neither of them needed that.

With a sigh he gently removed his arm from around Chloe's shoulders and laid her down properly in the bed and covered her up. He slipped out of bed and hurried to the bathroom, coming back into the room and sitting back down on the bed so that he could stroke her hair as he spoke on the phone. He had noticed that she fussed a little she lost the heat from his body, even though it had been replaced by the blanket.

"Hello", he said softly into his phone.

"Lex? Why are you whispering?" Clark's voice came from the other end of the line.

"I am whispering because Chloe is asleep and I don't want to wake her", he informed him calmly; he saw no reason to lie to his friend. If he took that as a subtle hint to leave Chloe alone, then so much the better.

"Oh, right", Clark said uncertainly. "I was just calling because I couldn't get through to Chloe on the number that she gave me and I was worried that something had happened to her".

"Her phone is probably in the office or in her bedroom", Lex said conversationally as he stretched his legs out on the bed. This was fun. It was just what he needed to distract himself for a few minutes from the fact that Chloe was hurting and that he couldn't help her.

"Oh … um … yes, of course", Clark mumbled.

Lex could hear some fussing in the background and wasn't surprised to overhear Clark explaining to Lois that Chloe was fine; her phone just wasn't turned on.

"But Chloe never turns off her phone", Lois complained.

"It is also in the other room", Clark added.

"Well then tell her to go and get it. Are you speaking to her now? Give me the phone". Lex smirked at Lois demonstration of temper as he thought that he couldn't have wished anything better on Oliver - she would make up for the way that Queen had treated him for all of those years at boarding school.

"Here you go, but not I'm not speaking to Chloe, I'm speaking to Lex", Clark sounded agitated.

"Is Chloe with him?" Lois demanded, from the odd sounds coming from the receiver probably grabbing the phone from Clark.

"Yes, but she is asleep", Clark informed him.

"Okay", Lois said, sounding appeased for a moment before asking Lex, "What are you doing in the same room as my cousin while she is asleep?"

"Watching her sleep", he answered easily.

"Because that's not too creepy".

"I am a Luthor", he reminded her.

"True, don't you get any ideas about my cousin", Lois said, "she is in a fragile emotional state and the moment and I don't want you to take advantage of her".

He swallowed. Winding Clark up had been fun but he really did regret what Lois had been put through, "I'm not going to take advantage of her. Look, I am sure that Chloe will kill me if she ever finds out that I have told anyone but she is having very bad nightmares. It helps to have someone with her."

"Oh", was the only response he received.

"I have got her to talk about most of them, hopefully that will help her to get passed this. But if not I have the finest therapists who can all be here within a matter of hours", he explained.

"Do you really think that it will come to that?" Lois asked, sounding overly brash which he had come to realise meant that she was really scared.

"I hope not but I'm really not sure. She had been through a lot, if professional help will assist her recovery then she will have it and she will submit to it even if it means that she ends up hating me", he said.

"She won't hate you", Lois assured him.

"Chloe is very kind but …"

"She won't hate you, trust me. I know her", Lois repeated. It wasn't for her to tell him about the crush that Chloe had had on him since her freshman year, but she knew that Chloe could never truly hate him and she figured that there was no harm in Lex being aware of that fact too, seeing as he had saved her life and was now attempting to do the same for her sanity.

"When she is awake and up to it, tell her to call one of us", Lois instructed him.

"I will".

"Okay, bye Lex", she paused as he said goodbye as well. "And thank-you for what you are doing for her". Lois then hung up before he could do anything more than look at the phone in shock. People didn't thank him.

Chloe stirred.

"Who was that?" She wondered. Apparently Lex had overestimated her ability to sleep ever so slightly, and his conversation with her cousin had in fact woken her up.

"It was Clark and Lois, they were just checking to see if you were alright. I'm sorry to have woken you but there is nothing to worry about. Go back to sleep", he said softly turning his phone onto silent.

This seemed to satisfy her for a moment and she nuzzled her pillow, then her eyes popped open. "Lois and Clark?"

"Yes", he was surprised by her sudden outburst.

"Why were they calling? What's the time?" She pushed herself up with her arms.

Lex looked at her in confusion, not certain what the time had to do with anything, or what time it was actually. He looked at his phone and informed her, "It is 10 to 12".

"In the morning?"

"In the morning", he confirmed. "Although not for much longer".

"I have to get up", Chloe announced as she attempted to do just that.

"You don't have to get up", he assured her, "you don't have to do anything that you don't want to. Work can wait".

"No, it's not that", Chloe said as she untangled her legs from the covers.

"Then what is it?" He wondered getting up and walking around the bed to her.

"I wasn't meant to be here in the morning", she informed him too concerned with getting her foot free to realise what she had just let slip.

He stopped at this. "You weren't supposed to be here in the morning?" He repeated.

"No", she tugged her t-shirt down so that it was covering her.

"You weren't supposed to be in my bed in the morning or you weren't supposed to be in the mansion in the morning?" There was a dangerous edge to his voice, which came from pain.

"The first. Both. I don't know", she said a little confused, "I just wasn't supposed to be here", she tried to walk around him to the door – she had to get out of here and quickly if she was going to gather her thoughts- but felt herself being held.

"What do you mean you weren't supposed to be here? You were just going to leave in the middle of the night without telling me?" He demanded, the thought of her just disappearing like that making his blood boil.

"I mean that I wasn't supposed to be here in the morning. I wasn't supposed to be here last night", she tried to get out of his grip but Lex wasn't having any of it.

"That's not good enough Chloe, you owe me an explanation". He knew that that wasn't the right thing to do, that that would just raise her ire but at that moment he didn't care. He didn't care if that meant that they were going to have a blow-out row. They were going to have this out and she wasn't going to walk out on him.

She tried to wrench herself out of his grip but it didn't work, she only succeeded in hurting her arms. Seeing this, Lex lifted her and threw her on his bed, in a minute he was on top of her pinning to the bed. He didn't really think about what he was doing, he just knew that he had to restrain her and not let her leave without hurting her.

"Let me go!" She spat at him.

"Not until you tell me what you were planning on doing", he straddled her hips.

"I … I don't know", Chloe almost shouted, sounding desperate. "Don't you get it? I don't know what I'm doing from one minute to the next anymore".

"And don't you get that I don't know how to help you unless you tell at least a little bit of what you are feeling, even if it makes no sense?" Lex could see that she was starting to panic.

"Who asked you to help me?" She demanded.

"You did", he shot back. "Maybe not in words but he came to me in the middle of the night because you couldn't sleep alone, you let me hold you, you let me in. You can't now just clam up and act like none of this ever happened".

She turned her head away from him.

"Tell me Chloe, did you plan on leaving in the morning even as you came to me last night?" He demanded.

"Yes".

His heart sank.

The silence weighed on her and she knew that he was right; she did him an explanation – or at least as much of an explanation as she could pull together. "I couldn't sleep again. I was so exhausted and I tried to take tablets but … it didn't work. I was sick and I just couldn't help but think that if I could just have you hold me again that I would feel better. I used you, just like I used Jimmy", she was numb. "I don't blame you for being mad".

"I'm not mad that you came to me. I'm mad that you thought of leaving. That was always the plan. To get a good night's sleep so that you would be well rested for your departure?"

"Not exactly", she searched for the words, "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't make my brain work and I thought that if I didn't wake up with you then it wouldn't count. I could pretend that it hadn't happened but that after a full night's sleep I might be able to think straight. There are so many things whirring around in my brain and they won't stay still long enough for me to make sense of them".

He transferred both of her wrists into only one of his hands so that the other one was free to stroke her cheek. He was angry, he was hurt, but he couldn't help but respond to the anxiety in her voice.

"Do you want to leave me?" He finally summoned the courage to ask.

"No", she answered honestly, "but in the harsh light of day, I think that I must. At night I can pretend that none of it exists, but that doesn't change the facts".

"And what are the facts?" He inquired, already decided that whatever these facts were he wasn't going to let them come between them.

"The first is that I am evil", she couldn't look at him as she rattled off the list of her evil doings. "My own mother couldn't love me. I put my father in danger and even now cannot be the good daughter I should be. I didn't realise that one of my best friends was in love with me and ended up hurting him. I was in love with my other best friend and when he didn't return my feelings I plotted to hurt him. I disrupted my Uncle's life for years and that of several army bases. I almost destroyed my own cousin whilst masquerading as the other one. I used one of the sweetest men on the face of the planet and ended getting him killed. His brother will forever be alone because of what I did. I hurt you over the years and put you in a terrible position and now I have used you as well".

"Chloe I …"

"Don't", she cut him off. "If you knew the whole story then you would hate me".

"I could never hate you", he knew that it was the truth as he said it. He could never hate her. Everything that he had just said, he could find an excuse for. "What is the whole story? What are the facts which you think mean that you have to leave?"

"I killed your father".


	22. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

The colour drained from Lex's face.

"I killed your father", the words reverberated in his head but he couldn't wrap his mind around them. He must have misheard. That quite simply could not be true. He could practically feel his world ripping apart at the seams.

"No", his voice sounded almost calm, as he tried to think about the situation logically. His hearing was perfect so he hadn't misheard, there must be another explanation. "You're lying." Yes, that made far more sense. "You are just trying to punish me. You didn't do that. You couldn't have".

"You don't know what I am capable of anymore", Chloe said sadly. This was not going as she had imagined. She had thought that she would be punished for it when he found out, but she had expected him to lash out at her immediately, not to have to try to convince him that she was telling the truth first. All the while waiting for the truth to sink in and waiting for his first strike.

"Not that", Lex shook his head. He just couldn't believe it.

Chloe swallowed. She almost wished that he would just hit her so that she wouldn't have to look at his face right at that moment. He looked devastated and she knew that that was the end of anything between them. She knew that the reason why she hadn't done anything over all of those years wasn't because she valued the law, or because she was afraid; it was because Lex loved his father. If she destroyed Lionel she would destroy Lex too, by extension.

It was Lex's love for his father that had kept her a prisoner for so many years. When she had come back and had heard him saying that he should have killed his father she hadn't been able to believe it, he was just confused. She knew that he loved his father, he had told her. If everything that Lionel had done to him over the years before that couldn't alter that fact, then nothing that Lionel had done thereafter could.

She couldn't bear to see him like this anymore. She couldn't bare the weight of her own guilt, not over the murder but over hurting Lex. It would consume her if she let it, she had to put up her last line of defence.

"Well now we are even", she injected her voice with as much venom as she could muster, but it still came out sounding weak. "You sent Jimmy to set me up, well congratulations. It back fired". Chloe made another attempt to get up but was held down.

"No. Let's get this fucking straight", his face loomed over hers. "I don't know why the hell you feel the need to read something sinister into Jimmy knowing some more information than you think that he should have." He was barely an inch from her, she could feel his hot angry breath across her skin, feel the strength of his arms pushing her down.

"But", he continued, "it has absolutely nothing to do with me and you know it or you wouldn't have come to me last night. You feel guilty because you treated him badly, well too fucking bad."

Chloe retracted from his words as if from a physical blow.

"Deal with it because I had nothing to do with it. If I had known about it, he wouldn't have got shot!" Lex roared.

She gulped. She believed him. Her shield was gone.

Chloe trembled. She thought of Jimmy, she thought of Lex. She had wronged them both and she hated herself for it but there was no going back now.

"This is all just payback for what you imagined I had done to Jimmy, isn't it?" Lex asked, his voice softening. He sat back up, keeping hold of her wrists but loosening his grip and massaging them as he held them in front of his chest, rather than over her head.

"Just say yes and we will forget all about it", his voice was warm and sensual (obviously by design, she realised) but there was a hint of pleading there.

Chloe stared at him mutinously. A few seconds before she had been ready to lie to him, to say that she had been making it all up to keep from hurting him but his change in tone proved to her that he was just playing with her. He already knew the truth.

"Just say yes", his tone was more urgent this time and made Chloe doubt herself.

"No", she finally got out.

"Chloe".

She could still lie, there was still time. Maybe there was a chance for him, maybe it was for the best to lie. She opened her mouth to say the words that would make it all better, the words that would secure her safety and a future for them … She couldn't lie to him.

Chloe bounced out of her bedroom on the Italian base happy and freshly showered and dressed. She almost skipped down the hallways as she made her way to the main area where she knew that Jimmy would be waiting for her when he came back from his little outing.

"Ciao Riccardo, come stai?" she greeted the back of one of the soldier's heads as she entered the room.

"Lucy, sei qui." He said turning to her, she could see the distress on his face. "Devi venire con me, c'era un'incidente".

Chloe did go with him; they were moved into a hummer and sped away towards the hospital. She tried to get the rest of the story from Riccardo but he wouldn't tell her anything more. There had been an accident and she was to go with him.

Her mouth was dry and her knees were weak as she entered the hospital and saw Davis, "What's happening? Was it my … my father?" She asked. The whole journey her mind had been plagued by the possibility that her uncle had somehow been hurt on his operation and that she would find him with multiple holes in his body when she got to the ER.

"No, it's not your father", Davis informed her, also looking a distressed. "I don't know how to tell you this, but one of the soldiers was attacked … shot, just outside the base. His said your name, I called General Lane and he told me to make sure that you got in to see him".

Chloe's face was a mask of horror as the realization crashed over her.

"It's Jimmy isn't it?"

He nodded and Chloe was sure that she was going to die right then and there.

She was not sure that she would even have made it to his room had it not been for Davis' arms around her, supporting her the whole way.

"How bad is it? He is not going to be permanently paralysed or something, is he?" She asked, begging him to tell her that it had just been a flesh wound although she knew from his expression that it wasn't.

"He isn't going to last the day".

They were at the door of his room and Chloe knew that she had to go in.

"He asked for you", Davis explained, not bothering to think why that might be. "They have done all that they can, he is attached to every machine possible but there is nothing that surgery can do. This is just buying him enough time to say his goodbyes."

"Does he know?" It was the only thing that she could think to ask.

"I don't know", Davis admitted.

Chloe prayed harder than she had ever prayed before that she would know what to do and that God would give her the strength to do it.

As she finally entered the room and saw him she panicked, he was deathly pale and his eyes were closed. It was only the beep from the machines that convinced her that she was not too late.

The nurse who was standing next to him taking his vital signs walked over to her and confirmed this, whispering, "Don't worry, you're not too late. We have done all that we can but it is only a matter of time. He is on morphine so he is in no pain, he will just fall asleep again and then …" She gave Chloe a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand, "He won't feel a thing".

With that she left them alone and Chloe walked over and sat gingerly on the side of the bed.

"Jimmy", she said his name softly as she stroked the side of his face, trying to ignore how clammy his skin felt.

"Bright eyes", he croaked, opening his eyes with difficulty. It was as if sleep wanted to claim him.

"Yes, it's me Jimmy", she bent forwards and kissed his forehead. "How do you feel?"

"Not too bad. What are the doctors saying?" His tone was light, seeming almost unconcerned.

Chloe gasped, was it really possible that they hadn't told him? He didn't know that he was about to die. She couldn't tell him the truth. Who would it help? She did not doubt that God would take Jimmy into his mercy; he did not need to make a deathbed confession or beg for repentance. He would just be hurt. Praying for forgiveness she decided to lie.

Her jaw quivered slightly as she forced a bright smile, "They say that you were very lucky. The bullet just missed everything vital and whilst you are going to be here for a while and have to be on pain killers you are going to make a full recovery".

The lie stuck in her throat but seemed to please Jimmy if his smile was anything to go by. That was how she wanted to remember him, that was what his last conscious moments were going to be like. He was going to have everything that he wanted, or at least everything that was in her limited power to provide him with.

"Then we are going to take down Lionel Luthor for good, we are going to move to Metropolis and get married. Do you hear me Jimmy Olsen? I have had enough of you trying to run off on me", she tried to make her voice sound like it was a joke at the end, but she knew that she had fallen short. She hoped that he would be too out of it to notice.

Jimmy smiled at her and reached up to cup her face. Chloe leant over to kiss him, wondering why she had been so reluctant to let him kiss her lips for so long. He wasn't Lionel, he wasn't going to hurt her, and she had wasted so much time with him.

"I love you so much Chloe", his voice was weak and she helped him to drink something as she replied, "I love you too Jimmy".

The grin which suffused his face hurt her heart.

"I'm not afraid you know", he assured her.

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm not afraid of dying", he clarified patiently, he was always patient with her.

"You aren't going to …" Chloe tried to deny his soon to be gruesome end.

"That is sweet of you to say, but we both know the truth", he cut her off. Jimmy stroked her cheek.

Chloe swallowed

"I never was afraid of death", he tried to explain himself to her. "I don't know, I'm not suicidal or anything but I have faith. This isn't going to be the end for me and I did what I thought was right, in the end".

"Jimmy don't", she begged.

"No Chloe, every day I lived with the guilt that I hadn't protected my brother, soon that will be gone", a sad smile crept over his lips. "The only thing that I will regret is leaving you but you listen to me." He sounded far more authoritative than she had ever heard him before, "You aren't to feel guilty about this. None of this was your fault. If it weren't for you I would have gone on another mission within months of being back the first time and I would have died on that trip".

"Don't say that", Chloe protested. She had always had the feeling that he would end up getting hurt because of her, but she couldn't handle this. She needed him. She needed him to stay with her. She needed to make this better. This was all her fault.

"Please God take me not him", she silently begged.

"It's the truth", he was no longer smiling, her pain hurt him far more than the thought of his approaching death. "Chloe, I went into this profession with my eyes wide open. I knew that I was going to die, probably painfully but I think that it was worth it."

"But this morning, this last mission", she protested as if his saying that he wasn't going to die would make it so.

"I was fairly certain that this last one would be suicide, no one was more shocked than me when it all worked out", he chuckled. She didn't understand how he could be so calm about all of this.

"But it is alright. Really it is. The pictures are safe on my drive, now you will be free. You don't love me, or at least not in the way that I love you, and you wouldn't have been happy in the long run. This is what I get for my selfishness. I want you to be happy Chloe. Use the photos and be free. Find that fellow of yours, the one who was so far above you ", he remembered what she had once told him, "and show him how amazing you are."

"Jimmy don't …" tears streamed down her face as she tried to work out what she should say.

"Hey, don't", he brushed the tears away. "Angels don't cry, they smile. Smile for me Chloe, my love and promise me that you will be free and happy".

"I promise", she said, it was all that she could say. She leant forwards and brushed her lips against his, he smiled and then … he was gone.

Chloe sat there for hours. She didn't feel sad, she didn't feel anything. She was completely numb. The nurses had come and taken Jimmy's body away, the room had been cleaned and still she sat there.

"It's time for us to go", Davis said softly as he put his hand on her shoulder. He had given her as long as he could but it was time for them to leave, not just the hospital but the country. Jimmy had been murdered and the General had filled him in on why.

"No".

"Lucy we have to leave now".

"Chloe".

"What?"

"My name is Chloe", her voice was quiet but clear.

Davis ran a hand through his hair as he crouched down beside her. "You know that you are Lucy now", he whispered.

She shook her head. "I have been trying to be Lucy for years now but it hasn't worked. People are still getting hurt because of me and it ends today".

"What do you mean?" He sounded concerned.

"I mean that Jimmy died because he was trying to protect me. Everyone I love gets hurt, Lionel hurts them to get to me. He poisoned Lex because of the information that I have him. My father got fired, lost his house, had to leave everything behind and now just when he is getting his life back together he can't remarry because he will have to be moved again soon. My cousin is probably a mess thinking that I am dead and now Lionel has killed Jimmy", her tone was even.

"There is nothing that we can do about that now Lu … Chloe. We have to get out of here", he reached out to her but she flinched from his touch.

"I am not going".

"Chloe, you have to. You could be killed", he didn't want to scare her but she had to see the danger.

"Quite possibly. But it doesn't matter anymore. Jimmy is dead because I didn't want I should have done years ago. He died thinking that his hard drive was safe but we both know that by now Lionel will have cleared that out and Jimmy's death with have been for nothing", Chloe felt her sense of purpose grow as she spoke of the decision which she had taken the moment Jimmy's eyes closed.

Davis didn't deny it, he couldn't.

"Well I won't let his death be for nothing", Chloe stood up.

"It won't", Davis assured her, "with time we will find a way…"

"No, this ends today", Chloe shifted her bag on her shoulder.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I am sick of waiting for a system to protect us when it belongs to Lionel Luthor", she erupted. "I am sick of sitting around terrified because of him. Because I can remember him touching me, still feel his breath against my face. His hands all over my body. It is sickening." She trembled from head to toe.

Davis reached out for her but she dodged him.

"I am sick of the cat and mouse games. Jimmy is dead because I didn't act sooner".

"What are you going to do?"

"I am going to kill Lionel Luthor. It was what I should have done the first time that he dared to threaten me", her hand tightened around the strap of her bag, "The first time he acted against my family. I should never have let it come to this".

"You are a good shot Chloe but you would never get near enough to him", David pointed out, trying to get her to think about this sensibly.

"I don't have to be", she took a step closer to him, "we both know that the army has tablets that can kill someone without leaving a trace. When I kill him it will look like a rare liver disease and he will be dead inside a month".

"You have access to them?" He asked.

Chloe nodded. "I have had them ever since the first time he put his hands on me. I thought that I could give them to him, I could kill him without anyone knowing but … something stopped me", she didn't say Lex's name.

"My job is to protect you Chloe", Davis announced.

"Well I relinquish you of such an unpleasant task", she said as if that were all it took for him to give up his duty.

He shook his head. "Do you know why I was put in charge of your security?"

"No", Chloe admitted. She had wondered several times, but hadn't been able to find out anything about his past.

"Then let me show you". Right there before her eyes Davis changed into a monster, it was a meteor freak ability like none Chloe had ever seen before.

"Davis?" Chloe checked, as she took a step towards the monster.

"Yes. I will not allow you to kill Lionel Luthor, you will not have that on your conscience". He didn't say that one more death for him would mean nothing, he didn't have to.

With that he scooped her up and disappeared in a blur.

In truth it had not been by Chloe's hand that Lionel Luthor had died but she would still take the responsibility. It had been her idea and she had provided the pills which had sentenced him to a month of agony before dying an excruciating death which no drug could ease. She had been the one to send him a blood red rose every single day of his illness with a note attached with only two words printed neatly on it: "Love Jimmy".

"I killed your father", she stated plainly in resume of the story she had just told him.

Lex sat to the side of her, inadvertently letting her get up.

"So that is why you disappeared" he said as he worked it all out. He felt ill as the truth finally dawned on him. It made sense; that was why his father suddenly had a disease he hadn't had before and of which there was no trace in the family.

"You killed him", he repeated, still not really believing it that she had been the one to poison him. He was sure that it was Davis who had actually done the deed, for which he would receive just payment.

"Yes". Chloe stood up.

Lex felt beyond sick now. Chloe had been in some way tainted. He had not missed the part of the story where she had mentioned Lionel's hands on her.

He couldn't ask about that.

"I'll leave", she said.

He snapped at that. He grabbed her by the arms and lifted her off the ground. "No", he shouted. "Let me make myself quite clear Chloe Sullivan. After what you have just told me you are not going anywhere. You will go, you will get changed and then we will start work. You will not leave because if you try to I will track you down and bring you back kicking and screaming if necessary. I will go through the people that you care about to keep you if I have to. I will show you how terrifying the Luthors can really be".

She shook but she still managed to retort bitterly, "I believe that I already got that memo".

He placed her back on the floor.

"And for God's sake eat something. I am sick and fucking tired of having to check that you are eating stuff every day, the second anything goes wrong you become self-destructive. Get over it!"


	23. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

"Oh God, what have I done?" Lex sighed as he watched Chloe leave his bedroom and close the door behind her.

All those years Lex had thought that he had swooped in just in time and that he had protected her but he had done nothing. He hadn't got to her before Lionel could really hurt her, he hadn't provided the stability she had needed when she had been taken away, he hadn't been able to protect her or her heart, and now … he had scared her.

She had told him the truth and he had threatened her again, he had probably terrified her. He remembered the look of fear on her face, remembered the feeling of her under his hands. She must have been so scared, it must have reminded her of when his father had …

Lex barely reached the toilet in time before retching up his guts.

This wasn't the man he wanted to be. This wasn't the man he was going to be.

He replayed the exchange over again in his mind and groaned, heaving again. He wasn't even sure now that he had made his reasons for his anger clear. She might have thought. No, that was ridiculous. She had to know that the only reason he had been upset was because she had been hurt, because he hadn't been able to protect her adequately and because of the thought of her being crippled by the guilt of what she had done. She had to know that.

Another wave of nausea hit him.

It was possible that she did not know that. She had been able to doubt his relationship with Jimmy Olsen, it was always possible that she had misread him this time was well.

He dragged himself to his feet and into the shower, determined to get downstairs as soon as possible – after scrubbing himself clean and wearing out at least three toothbrushes. He had to make Chloe understand that he had no intention of ever hurting her.

Chloe sat stiffly at her desk in Lex's office typing away on her computer, an unopened powerbar next to her coffee cup. He had told her to be here, he had told her to work and that was what she was doing. She wouldn't leave, if she did she knew that he would just come after her and she had agreed to work for him for the agreed time but that didn't mean that she was going to make this easy on him.

For years Chloe had been lived in fear, afraid that every day someone might find her but not this time. She knew exactly who were enemy was and she wasn't going to run. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction and she wouldn't put her family in danger. She would go toe to toe with Lex Luthor and she would win. By the end of the two months he would be on his knees.

"Kneel before Chloe", she giggled to herself, but her merriment was short-lived when she heard the door swinging open and the unmistakable sound of Lex Luthor's footsteps on the hardwood floors.

"Chloe", Lex said to her back.

"Good morning Mr Luthor", she said in clipped tone.

"Mr Luthor", he repeated in slight surprise.

He strode over to stand just behind her, allowing his footsteps to echo around the room so that she wouldn't be surprised when he came up behind her.

Chloe's spine stiffened. He wasn't going to intimidate her just advancing on her like that. She would just continue her typing, showing him that he had no power over her. She wasn't afraid of him. She ignored the shiver than crawled across her skin.

"I would prefer that you refer to me as Lex", he said lightly. It seemed an odd conversation to be having, but it was better than her throwing things at his head.

"And I would prefer that you let me get on with my work", her tone was curt.

"Right", Lex said, not sure what to do next. In all of the scenarios that he had imagined her sitting there working hadn't been one of them.

"Look Chloe, …" He tried to start the conversation up again.

"Miss Sullivan, if you don't mind", she interrupted.

"Miss Sullivan", he conceded, "you don't have to do this".

"Do what? My work? Of course I do, this is my job", she said simply, still not looking at him.

Lex's palms itched to turn her chair around to make her look at him, he wanted to see her face even if she looked at him with disgust, but he restrained himself. He had to prove to her that he wasn't going to hurt her.

"I don't want you to be afraid of me", he told her. He didn't know what else to say, falling to his knees and begging for her forgiveness seemed like the most tempting option but he didn't think that it would do any good.

"I'm not", she continued to type.

"Chlo … Miss Sullivan, please look at me", he beseeched her.

She stopped typing, he heard her sigh and then her chair span around. Chloe uncrossed her legs and stood up, she had on her highest heels but she was still a few inches shorter than him but she didn't care. She seemed to grow in front of his very eyes until she was almost nose to nose with him.

"I am not afraid of you Mr Luthor. I have spent far too long hiding away from the world, being afraid of every noise, every movement and for what? Because someone might come and kill me? What was the point of living a life like that? My family is safe and they will remain that way because if they don't, certain things that you might not like known about you will find their way onto the web", she threatened him coolly.

Lex's eyes widened in shock. He was concerned that she had taken his threats seriously, but couldn't help but be thrilled by the defiant spark and her plan. She was threatening him. This was the old Chloe, or at least the first signs of her return.

She smirked. "I spent a lot of time on my 'holiday' researching everything to do with you, your family and Smallville and you would be shocked at some of the things that I have found out".

"You are threatening me?" He asked his voice soft, although she read danger into it.

"Of course not, I am merely informing you of what is going to happen. As you have made quite clear, I have accepted a job from you and you will make life as difficult as possible for me if I refuse it. I could leave, disappear forever but I like Smallville and I like Metropolis and I won't be pushed out by another Luthor", she started.

"I am not like my father".

"No?"

"No."

"Well then all that I can say is that you do a remarkably good impression of him", she said casually, aiming to wound him if possible but actually having no idea how effectively she had managed it.

"I am going to work for you for two months, then I am going to work for the Daily Planet in the highest position that I can get. I will also go wherever I like and do whatever I like in spite of the fact that I have to live under this roof to do this job. And I you have a problem with that then I am more than happy to go to war over this", she threw down the gauntlet.

"You would be willing to go head to head with me?" He asked incredulously. The fires of the Chloe he loved and remembered smouldering in her eyes.

"Le … Mr Luthor, I went head to head with your father and won, I'm not afraid of you", she said, ignoring the stab of guilt she still felt thinking of Lionel.

Lex raised one eyebrow. This show of bravado was extremely impressive but she couldn't fool him. He was stood so close to her that he could feel the nervous energy coming off her in waves. He could see the slight trepidation in her gaze. He didn't doubt that she was willing to go up against him but it was obvious – at least to him, - that she felt that she was being forced into this, but all he said was, "Very well".

She looked pleased that he had given in to her. God help him he thought that he might be willing to lose every argument they ever had if only she would look at him like that. Then her expression changed back to its cold mask with only a hint of unease.

"You don't have to be afraid of me Chloe", he attempted to reassure her.

"I'm not".

"I'm not going to try to hurt you". He reached out to stroke her cheek.

"No, of course not", she said in a tone which clearly stated that she didn't believe him one jot. She didn't add, 'I'm sure that you never plot revenge against people who are responsible for the murder of the one person in the world you love'.

He looked at her in some confusion.

Chloe tried not to fidget under his scrutiny, she refused to give him the satisfaction. She didn't even respond to his touch, or at least she tried not to. As much as she knew that she should be wary of him, that he was going to try to do something bad to her … she could not help the way that her body reacted to him.

Sure that he knew the effect that he was having on her she tried to prove that she was not weak. "But while I think of it there is one more thing", she announced.

"Go on".

"You are never to hold me down on your bed against my will ever again", her eyes glinted, "if you want to be able to procreate".

Guilt pricked at him as he remembered what he had done, he wanted to apologise but it would not have been enough and he knew it. Instead, he acquiesced. ""I promise you Miss Sullivan, I will never hold you down on my bed – or any other bed for that matter – against your will".

She nodded, seeming satisfied with that.

Lex couldn't help it; he leant forwards and whispered, "The next time that I have you beneath me on a bed you will be begging me never to let you go".


	24. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

"It is such a relief to be out of that mansion", Chloe announced as she and Lois hit the freeway. Lois was in a fantastic mood and Chloe could feel her own mood lifting quite considerably. It was a cold day but bright and she was going to the city to spend the weekend with Lois – who was so happy to have her cousin with her that she hadn't even put White Stripes on.

"Bad day?" Lois wondered, she and Chloe hadn't talked much. Her cousin had just called her a few hours ago asking if she wanted to hand out that weekend as she got off at 4pm. Lois had jumped at the chance and wondered if Chloe wanted to hang around Smallville but Chloe was all in favour of Metropolis. Lois hadn't asked why at that point, although she swore that if Lex had upset her …

"Just stuff with Lex", Chloe said with a shrug, not wanting to get into it. The mansion was lovely but feeling entirely too small now that she and Lex were on such odd terms. She kept waiting for him to make a move against her but he didn't, he acted normally towards her. She acted slightly coldly and aloof towards him, then he flirted. He said things and gave her looks that made her mouth go dry and her knees go weak. She tried to reply, to continue their verbal judo. It had seemed to work well until he had stepped things up that lunchtime.

Chocolate pudding should be made illegal, in Chloe's humble opinion. The sight of Lex devouring it ever so slowly had lamost been her undoing, but she had remained strong and eaten her own. If only he hadn't made comments about wanting to eat her up too, at that point the whole house had become too hot to bare.

"Anything I can do?" Lois wondered, thinking about Lex talking about therapists. Chloe couldn't really be in that bad shape could she? She seemed almost chipper.

"Nah", Chloe shook her head. "I just need to get out".

"To the city?"

"To the city!" Chloe confirmed. "The question is really: how do you feel about sneaking your under aged cousin into a club like at the end of freshman year?"

Lois stared at her causing the car to swerve slightly and so she fixed her eyes back on the road, before answering, "Pretty good", then after a moment adding, "Are you sure that you are ready?"

"Yes … no", Chloe wasn't really even sure what the honest answer was anymore. "Look Lo, I am sick of this". She gestured to the air around her. "All of this fear and hiding myself away from everyone. None of this was a huge problem when I was in Smallville before leaving. It's like when we fell out when I was little".

"I remember that", Lois laughed. It wasn't hard to remember the only major falling out that they had ever had, and Chloe's furious little face. "We had an argument and I left for a month with the General and when I came back you wouldn't speak to me".

"Exactly, I hid myself away rather than facing the problem head on and look where it got me. I'm not going to do that this time. I am going to go out with my cousin and party", Chloe said with her stubborn face on.

"Nice to see the real Chloe Sullivan", Lois grinned, "especially with the cute widdle dubborn facie", she put on a patronising voice as she tried to pinch one of Chloe's cheeks.

"Yeah yeah and if we could find a nice red head I wouldn't mind either", Chloe winked, trying to evade Lois' pinching.

Lois laughed.

"I'll see how many guys Ollie knows and we shouldn't have too many problems getting into the club", Lois assured her.

"Always knew that you would go after the money Lo", she teased.

"Hey, it wasn't the money", Lois protested, even though she knew that her cousin had only been in gest.

"The sex?" Chloe had to ask.

"Got it in one", Lois put her foot down as they laughed.

"Really that good?"

"Yep".

"Damn, I miss sex", Chloe said wistfully.

Chloe looked around the penthouse's guest bedroom.

"So, does this meet the requirements of the Sullivan girls?" A man's voice came from the doorway as he lugged in Chloe's suitcase.

"It'll do", Chloe said surveying it with an air of supreme hauteur.

"My other lover's is slightly better but he is out of town", Lois said with a shrug.

"Yeah it was a shame about that. He was the one with the really big …" Chloe trailed off.

"I guarantee that mine is bigger", the blonde's eyebrows waggled.

"Sure it is Ollie", Chloe teased him as she walked over and ruffled his hair.

Lois smiled, glad to see that Chloe and Oliver got along. They had only met an hour ago and were already acting like brother and sister … mostly.

"Thanks for letting me crash", Chloe said, trying to take her suitcase off him but he wouldn't allow it.

"Hey, my undefined lover's cousin is my cousin", Ollie tried to joke while avoiding Lois' elbow.

"Cool", Chloe smiled at the display, she could tell that they loved each other however much they denied it. She should let them have their moment … but she wasn't going to. "Although you know we still have to have a little talk about your intentions with my cousin here", Chloe warned him.

"Whenever you like", he said as he lifted Chloe's suitcase onto her bed.

"Right now", she smiled. "Now I will need to be satisfied on several points", she made herself comfy on her bed. "How long have you been together?" She asked, holding up one finger to illustrate that this was only the first question on her list.

"4 years", Oliver replied with a smug smile at Lois. "See, I remembered".

"Correct", Lois acknowledged.

"Any serious relationships before this one? If so, with whom and for how long?" Chloe asked, she missed conducting interviews.

"One with Mercy for a few years but it ended when I couldn't commit and she married someone else", Oliver replied openly.

"Hmmm" Chloe considered. "And are you committed to this relationship?"

"Very", he said fixing her with the serious, sexy expression which made most women melt. Chloe remained unmoved. Lois just rolled her eyes at the attempt and shot him a do-you-really-think-that-my-cousin-is-stupid-enough-to-fall-for-that look.

Chloe nodded. "That all seems satisfactory at first glance, but hurt her and you won't live long enough to worry about what Uncle Sam will do to you", she said with a cheerful smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Understood", he smiled and gave her a one armed hug. "So I understand that I am going to have the pleasure of sneaking you into a club tonight"

"Hey, it's hardly the first time", Lois shrugged.

"She – and some friends from the planet – got me into one when I was 14", Chloe supplied helpfully.

Oliver didn't look surprised.

"Yeah, that was a good night", the older girl reminisced, "until I had to beat the snot out of that guy".

"What did he do?" Oliver wondered, feeling a little protective.

"He thought that my ass was a stress ball", Chloe explained with a scowl, remembering the lout.

"I knocked his teeth out … literally", Lois informed him.

"Yup", Chloe nodded. "Although I don't know how you think that I am going to learn to stand up for myself if you always do it for me".

"The trick is to make sure that there is a level of terror already there, then nothing bad happens. Seriously, if you had told me about Lionel years ago, I would have sorted him out for you", Lois said, before realising that she had put her foot in it.

Chloe smiled. "I know you would have Lo'. But don't worry, your training help", she remembered the look of shock on Lionel's face as she had forced him back finally.

"Sorry your time at the clubs turned out so bad", Oliver tried to steer the topic onto more neutral ground.

"It wasn't all bad, I located my friend there one night and another night I met a really hot guy", Chloe dreamy smile.

"I bet your Dad was happy about that", Oliver said. He had heard a lot of Lois' stories, enough to know the kind of man that Gabe Sullivan was and to be able to imagine his reaction to his daughter's being in clubs and apparently having relationship with men.

Chloe thought about that for a moment, "I think that when he knew that I was rooming with Lois he kind of expected it".

"I got you well and truly corrupted within 24 hours!" Lois bragged.

"Well I was already semi corrupted, remember the summer before …"

"Oh yeah, I had forgotten all about him", Lois laughed.

"Yeah, me too actually", Chloe confessed.

"That's depressing", they said together.

Oliver feared for the male population of Metropolis.

"Not bad Chloe Bear", Lois let out an appreciate whistle.

"Right back at ya, Lolly", Chloe said using their childhood nicknames for each other. As a baby Chloe had adored her older cousin but had been unable to manage Lois and had eventually managed Lolly, which Lois had thought was close enough.

"Wow", Oliver said following Lois out of their bedroom. "Looks like I am going to have my work cut out tonight".

Chloe's currently dark hair fell in tousled curls around her face and down her back. She was wearing a tight deep red dress with thin straps, revealing just a hint of cleavage and quite a bit of leg without being slutty.

Lois was dressed in slightly less in a deep green, he grinned. She was wearing _his_ colour. He licked his lips.

He would have to keep an eye on both of them. He didn't want to be one of those chauvinist men who thought that girls couldn't defend themselves, he knew that they could but he also knew that he could send men packing with a single glance. Lois was worried about her cousin going into such a crowded place and he was going to make sure that it was as easy on them both as possible.

"Just point Chloe in the direction of the nearest emotionally stunted redhead with Daddy issues and she'll be fine", Lois gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Point Lois in the direction of the biggest …" Lois shot her a look.

"Cheque book", Chloe finished, a look of supreme innocent on her features.

Yep, this was going to be a long night. Oliver thought to himself.

The music was blaring and the girls were dancing, Oliver was standing by them moving when required but mostly looking around to check that everything was right. He had a feeling that any second a bald billionaire was going to come barging in. As he glanced over at Lois and Chloe who were in the middle of putting on quite a show, he vaguely wished that Lex would come in.

When they had first arrived Chloe had been obviously nervous and uncomfortable being surrounded by so many people, but then Lois had got her a drink and well … then the socialising had started. Lois could take her alcohol and he knew that she had eaten a steak at the restaurant they had gone to before hitting the club. Chloe, on the other hand, had only had a salad and he was fairly certain hadn't tasted alcohol in at least 5 years. As a result, the shot that Lois had given her had been a little too powerful … but at least it had loosened her up.

Chloe had seemed to be having a good time when they all met up with some people and she had flirted a little, by which he meant a lot. In fact she had been flirting so much – although only good-naturedly – that Oliver had been beginning to debate intervening; it was always possible that one of those men could get the wrong idea. She certainly shouldn't have been accepting as many drinks as she had been. It had been a blessing when a Spice Girls' song had come on and Chloe had forgotten all about the boys and decided that she and Lois had to dance to it.

Although Lois hated pop music with a passion which was willing to give in to Chloe on most things and so she bounced around with Chloe singing about telling people what she really really wanted. That had been several songs ago and the crowd looking at the girls was getting larger with every passing wiggle.

Oliver gritted his teeth. He could grab Lois and leave, she was his girl after all but he couldn't just do that to her cousin. Not to mention that two girls would be hard to get out of there, especially as they were now doing a routine that he could only hope they had worked out during childhood.

As one rather brave man came up beside Chloe and started dancing, Oliver reached for his cell phone. He didn't want to, but he was starting to think that he had no choice. Just because Chloe was okay at the moment, it didn't mean that that couldn't all change in an instant.

He dialled.

"You need to come and get your girl".

"I'm already here".


	25. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Chloe span around delighting in feeling so free and deliciously light headed. There were no worries, no stresses in her world right then. Just her, music, dancing and … she was fairly certain that there had been yummy drinks and a tasty man a few moments ago. She danced around a little more sure that she would find them again eventually.

"Oh", she gasped as her twirling was halted by two very large, very manly hands on her hips. "There you are", she said in a sing song voice. She was vaguely aware that she should be afraid of him, whoever him was, but she just felt all light and tingly.

"Here I am", his voice was low and sent chills down her spine. He pulled her to him so that their hips were melding and he leant forwards so that she could hear him.

She responded instinctively, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting him pull her in until their bodies were practically fused. The DJ suddenly changed to a slow, seductive song which made such a hold normal. Chloe probably would have wondered about that, had she not been quite so light headed.

The voice tickled her ear and prodded her mind. She knew that voice. Finally she gave in, she stopped staring at his hands and let her gaze travel up his body. Strong chest, nice arms, yummy looking neck, "Lex".

"I thought that you were referring to me as Mr Luthor now", he growled.

"I did, I was, I am … what was I saying?" She wondered as they swayed together to the music.

"If you can't finish your sentences then I think that it is time to get you outside for a breath of fresh air", he decided, squeezing her a little more tightly.

"No", she pouted. "Don't want to go outside, want to stay here. Like dancing."

"Okay", he pretended to give in, hoping that his resolve not to take that stuck out bottom lip between his teeth would last, "one more dance and then outside you go".

"Two", she countered.

"Alright, two if they are slow", he said, signalling to the DJ to ensure that it would be. When did be become so weak? That pouty look shouldn't have completely unmanned him.

"You smell nice", Chloe said into his ear, as she nuzzled his neck. His warm, strong, gorgeous neck.

"So do you baby", he replied hugging her close and feeling her sagging against him.

"You feel good too", she continued.

"Another thing that we apparently have in common", he ran his hand down her back.

"I bet that you taste good too", she announced, she vaguely remembered their conversation from that lunchtime.

He ran a thumb across her full lower lip. "I would give anything to find out"

She licked her lips, and his thumb in the process drawing a groan from him. She took his thumb into her mouth and kissed him, twirling her tongue around the top like she wanted to do to another part of his anatomy.

"You are killing me darling", he said in a strained voice, "and you are going outside _now_". The final word was almost menacing.

"But it's only been one dance", she sulked and tried to cross her arms in front of her chest.

He briefly considered just throwing her over his shoulder and walking out of there, possibly giving her something to think about on the way, but if it looked like he was taking her by force then Lois might get involved, then Oliver would and then it would get complicated. Better to just placate her until he got her out of there.

"I have a music system", he said. He caught Oliver's eye over her head and gave him a nod to say that he was taking Chloe then, the blonde looked relieved.

Chloe seemed to be considering this for a moment, before announcing, "Just let me go and get another drink. The buzz is wearing off".

"Good", he said, looping an arm underneath her knees and carrying her out of the club.

"Weeee I'm flying", she sang, not seeming to mind that she hadn't got her next drink.

"Yes sweetheart. How many have you had?" He wondered.

"Vodka or … what was the red stuff?"

"Red stuff? Wine I hope, although here I'm not sure", Lex continued out of the door, as the cold air hit them he asked again, this time more of a demand, "How many?"

"Um … 5?" She asked. "Wait, does vodbull count?"

"Vodbull? You polluted vodka with redbull?" He sounded really disgusted now.

"Yep", he grinned at him.

"No wonder it had such an effect", he strode to where his limo was waiting for him and got in, still holding Chloe, as the driver opened the door.

"I like alcohol", Chloe declared far too loudly, having got used to the volume of the club.

"So I'd gathered", he put her seatbelt on and the car started.

"It makes you forget, hey where are we going?" She wondered, trying to see out of the darkened windows.

"What does it make you forget?" He asked, pulling her back to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

She shrugged, but didn't try to remove herself from his arms.

Lex put his hands on her shoulders and began to rub gently. She was so carefree at that moment he was fairly sure that he could get any information he wanted out of her, if he could just get her to relax enough. He knew that he should regret taking advantage of her, but he needed to know the truth.

"Tell me sweetheart", he continued. "What does it make you forget?"

"Everything", she said rubbed back against him.

"Care to elaborate", he applied some more pressure to his massage.

"Mmmm …" she moaned. "Makes me forget all about everything, the fear. The worry. It's nice not to have to think about it all. I'm just sick of it all. Sick of being worried every time I'm near someone new or in a crowd and there is no reason to be. I know that. The only reason why it got too bad was because I was kept away from people and allowed to get silly about these things".

"What about my Dad?" Lex prodded.

"He's dead", Chloe informed him, wondering if he hadn't been drinking. He drank too much. She was going to have to put a stop to that. There was going to be no more scotch drinking for Mr Luthor.

"But he hurt you", Lex wrapped his arms back around her waist as if that would somehow make everything alright.

"You know what he did", it wasn't a question. She was now fairly convinced that Lex knew all, somehow.

"I know what he did to your job, your father … I thought that was everything. But when you told me about killing him, you said that he put his hands on you". Lex suddenly became very aware of the fact that his own hands were on her and didn't know whether they were providing comfort as he intended or should be removed.

"It was nothing", Chloe tried to brush it off.

Gritting his teeth, he commanded, "Tell me". He had to know the damage – however much he didn't want to – otherwise there was no way of knowing how to help her.

"He …" She fought against the memory, the fear, the impotence, "he just held me down. It was nothing really. We hadn't been able to sell our house, Lionel made sure of that and we were in a terrible little one bedroom apartment. My Dad was in Metropolis one night, staying with a friend and trying to find work, when I heard a knock at the door. I went to see who it was, I thought that it was probably Clark coming to check on me but I couldn't see before I opened the door because we didn't have a spyhole or a latch. Lionel forced his way in. I tried to get him to leave but he wouldn't."

Lex's grip around her tightened even more.

"He walked around the place as if he owned it, reminding me that even this shelter was only temporary and that I shouldn't have backed out on our deal. He told me about all of the other plans that he had for bringing my father and me down even lower. Then he told me that it didn't have to be like that. He talked of giving me everything that I had ever wanted if only I would give him one thing … my body. I said no. He didn't listen", she turned her head and hid inside Lex's jacket.

He ran his hands through her hair and down her spine, hoping to comfort her somehow.

"I don't know why I am getting so upset about this. He didn't do anything to me. Not really. He just held me down, for hours and hours telling me how everything could change overnight if I just gave in to him. Telling me that he would marry me if that was what I wanted but I refused. I refused but I couldn't move. Finally he got tired and tried to take me by force … it was a mistake", she tried to sound brave, "The second he moved from just straddling me and holding both of my wrists above my head I kicked him and got away. That night I came to you at the mansion … it was right after …"

Lex tensed. He remembered her appearance from that night perfectly, how had he not seen it? Had he known his father would never have seen the sunrise.

"Meteor freaks have knocked me out. Tied me up. I was never that scared before", she admitted. She wished that she had more alcohol. Nothing seemed to matter when she had more to drink.

He tried to stay calm, as she checked. "He didn't rape you?"

"No", she was emphatic.

She waited a second and pulled her head out of his jacket to stare up at him. "Why do you care?"

He gazed at her in confusion. "You know that I care".

"No you don't, you hate me".

"What? What the fuck are you talking about?" He demanded.

"You hate me", she said, with apparently no more emotion than if she had been telling him the day's date. "It makes me sad. I liked you".

"I don't hate you, I could never hate you. What would make you say something like that?" His hand under her chin to ensure that she kept eye contact this time.

"I killed your father, you loved your father, therefore you hate me. You threatened me yesterday and wouldn't let me leave, you are probably plotting some terrible way of getting even with me", she suddenly paled, "you aren't planning on killing my father are you? You aren't going to go after my father are you?" She looked desperate.

"No of course not", he swore. He held her close, thinking that she must be going crazy.

"But you love him", Chloe whimpered.

"No, I wanted him to love me", Lex tried to explain, "and yes, a part of me did love him. But that ended the day that he threatened you. I love you Chloe, only you".

She stared at him with wide eyes at first, but then they narrowed. "You're lying", she accused him.

"No baby, I'm not lying. I love you", he swore.

"Prove it", she challenged. Her mouth forming words before her drink sodden brain could function properly.

His first thought was to kiss her senseless, but that wouldn't prove his love. "I brought this for you", he said, pulling something out of his pocket.

"What is it?" She wondered.

"This is a locket of my mother's", he opened it gently, on its side.

"What is that powder?" She wrinkled her nose.

"My father's ashes", that had to prove to her that he was telling the truth. "No one would keep his father's ashes and be willing to part with them if he weren't alright with his death".

Chloe gapped at him. "But, but", she floundered to make sense of all of this, "you were angry with me."

"No", he protested vehemently, not quite believing that they could have been talking at such crossed purposes. "Well, yes. I was angry but not with you darling", he stroked her face. "I was furious that I hadn't been able to protect you, that he might have hurt you … that you would be crushed by the guilt of being in some way responsible for his death".

"Oh". It might have been the vodka and the red stuff but she believed him. "You love me?"

"Yes, I love you", the passion in his voice was convincing.

"Lex …" His ears pricked up with hope as she started the sentence, she had used his first name that was a good sign.

She wanted to tell him that she loved him too, but all that came out was, "I didn't kill him".

Lex smiled. It wasn't what he had been hoping for, but it was something and now that they had got the basics out of the way – like the fact that he didn't hate her and wasn't trying to destroy her and her family – he was certain that he could win her. The seduction of Chloe Sullivan would begin the second her hangover faded, much like his taking her to task for dancing and grinding with men in a club.

"I know honey, I sent Davis 10 million dollars this morning", he cuddled her.

"Oh", was all that she said. The sleepiness from her day's activities finally catching up with her; she sank down into him for a little nap.


	26. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Lex laid Chloe down on the settee in his penthouse apartment at the LuthorCorp building as soon as he got her in the door. He straightened and stretched his back with a sigh of relief, she weighed quite a bit for such a small girl and the lift had taken forever to ascend, and there was no way that he was going to let anyone else touch her. She was all his.

It had taken a few attempts to even carry her without letting her head flop; he hadn't wanted to wake her up. Although, now that there were up there, he thought that maybe he should and not just because he wanted to spend a little more time with uninhibited drunk Chloe, but rather because he had to make sure that she was properly hydrated and that she had eaten something before she went to bed properly … with him.

He crouched down next to her sleeping form and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face. She looked so angelic sleeping, he figured that he could leave her like that for a little longer before waking her; he had a few things to do before bed anyway.

Trying to be as silent as possible, he locked up before grabbing his phone and heading out onto the balcony to call Lois; he knew that he had to call her to inform her that Chloe was safe.

"Hello Lois", Lex said, speaking so as to be heard over the background music. "Yes, Chloe is safe and sound. Yes I am aware of what will happen if I upset her."

After about twenty or so more questions and threats like that he was free to go back inside, where he found that Chloe was awake and apparently refreshed after her nap.

She had taken off her shoes and discarded her handbag as well. She stumbled around the room until she found the drinks cabinet and with an "Ah", she opened one of the decanters. She sniffed. "Scotch!" She poured a full glass and began to sip it.

"Argh", she pulled a face. "How the hell can you drink this stuff?" She turned to Lex to complain.

"Well first of all, we measure scotch in fingers, not glasses and you have about 7 fingers right there", he took the glass from her, "which you will not be drinking".

She pouted.

"And scotch is an acquired taste", he continued as he took a sip of it, taunting her with the beverage. "A fine year".

"I don't plan on acquiring it, it wasn't nice", she pulled a different face. He smirked at how expressive, and apparently petulant, her face was when she was drunk and didn't get her own way.

"Good", he said, "you have had enough to drink", he took her gently by the arm and pulled her into the kitchen. He lifted her to sit on the island. "You need to eat something to soak some of that up", he announced.

"What are you doing?" Chloe wondered, watching him rummaging around in the cupboards.

"I am finding the stuff to make you nutella pancakes", he found his griddle in one of the draws he never went in to. He could cook, he just chose not to, preferring to dine out.

"Nutella pancakes?" She squealed in a mixture of delight and disbelief.

"Yes, pancakes are excellent for alcohol soakage … and the nutella because I know that you won't eat anything even remotely healthy", he teased her.

"You are going to cook for me?" She sounded as if she couldn't quite believe it. Somehow Lex Luthor cooking for her was far less believable than him telling her that he loved her.

"Yes, but don't get used to it. The only reason why I am not calling the chef is because no one but me is going to see you like that", he gestured to her attire, or lack thereof. She was just too damned sexy for her own good standing there as she was in her bare feet, her red dress slightly rumpled, her hair even more tousled than she had intended and her cheeks slightly flushed. Lex should have been awarded a medal for his self-restraint and gentlemanly conduct when bending her back across the kitchen counter and having his way with her would have been so easy. It was only the thought that he couldn't take advantage of her in that state that stopped him. He was not going to become his father.

Chloe glanced down at herself, she noticed that her dress had somehow slipped down a little and the bottom had ridden up as he hoisted her onto her current perch but she shrugged it off. She was still perfectly decent and the scotch she had had was doing a lot to remove any inhibitions she might have had left.

"Someone was going to see me like this anyway, possibly with a lot less on", Chloe gave a shrug - a gesture which Lex did not appreciate if his reaction was anything to go by.

"I guarantee that they were not", his voice sounded menacing.

She raised an eyebrow.

She really should be angry at his high handed manner, it shouldn't make her tummy go all funny and her panties get wet. Then something occurred to her, her mind was very fluid when she had consumed large amounts of certain fluids.

"Is this as sexy when I do it as when you do it?" She wondered, referring to the eyebrow raise and tried it again.

"Oh far far sexier", he assured her, smirking. So she thought that he was sexy, he had already gathered as much but it was nice to hear.

"How do you do that?" She wondered.

"Do what?" He asked, giving her his full attention as he came to stand between her legs.

"Make me feel safe and warm and protected and yet … like I want to rip all of your clothes off and lick nutella off your body". Chloe considered his body for a few moments, she really wanted pancakes too. Would there be enough nutella for both jobs? Lex was rich, right? What was the point of being rich if you didn't have an enormous supply of nutella?

His smirk grew at her words, and it wasn't the only thing to do so. Drunk Chloe certainly had her advantages, she was so free so unfettered. He was fairly certain that he could kiss her right then and there without having to worry about her over thinking things … unfortunately the fact that she was clearly drunk meant that he could not kiss her. No, he had to be the perfect gentleman even if it killed him in the process.

Just as he was thinking this Chloe wiggled over the counter top and made her way back into the living room, announcing, "If you are going to make me pancakes then I had better work up an appetite".

She found his stereo system but groaned at his taste in music. She flicked through radio stations until she found one which was to her liking.

"Every Chloe dance now", she sang and Lex was glad that he hadn't been drinking his scotch at that moment or it would have shot out of his nose as Chloe continued, "rock rock this botty, dance every Chloe", and wiggled her bottom, or "botty" as she had apparently renamed it.

God help him, even her complete inability to dance at that moment turned him on. She twirled and wiggled and sang – off key – to the song and then to the next one. "I've been missing your strawberry kisses, nothing's as sweet, the taste still drives me crazy".

It was definitely time to get some pancakes into her … and then inform her that they were no longer in the 90s and that she was going to get a lot more than strawberry kisses if she kept that up.

He only turned around for a second to mix the ingredients and put the first batch on the griddle, he could have sworn that it had only been a second or possibly two and he had been keeping an ear out for her that entire time. But, when he turned back around he was greeted by the not at all unpleasant sight of Chloe dancing around in only her bra and panties.

"Um Chloe, what happened to your dress?" He wondered.

"Took it off", she explained in between hops, "too hot".

He wasn't surprised that she had become overly heated as the building was kept rather warm than necessary – and getting warmer by the second –, and she was dancing up a storm but he really hadn't expected her to start stripping in his living room. Knowing that he shouldn't be staring at her, he turned back and flipped the pancakes over willing himself back under control. Chloe was drunk, she had no idea what she was doing let alone the effect that she was having on him. She had not made any indication that she wanted him to go over there and take her against the wall and so he wouldn't.

It was very difficult for Lex to talk himself down as he put the first batch of 15 onto a plate and into the draw to keep warm and worked on a second one. In a few minutes these would be inside her and she would calm down. He closed his eyes as he thought this but he couldn't get rid of the sight of her bouncing around. Her creamy shoulders, her pert breasts pushed up by her red, strapless bra, her slender waist, her long legs, he groaned as he remembered her spinning around and giving him a glimpse of the back of her red thong. He didn't think that he had ever been affected this strongly by a woman, God help him if she ever got back those pounds she had lost – and the way he was feeding her, it was a definite possibility – he would never be able to let her out of his bed, provided of course, that he ever got her into it.

Finally the pancakes were done.

"Come and eat", he commanded her sternly and it must have worked – either that or she was hungry – as he found her at his elbow.

"You shouldn't get all bossy and stern and sexy unless you are going to tell me to do something dirty", she informed him, her sulky face back in place.

"You shouldn't go around like that", he looked her up and down, he couldn't help it, he really couldn't, he was only human after all. "If you don't want to be taken against the fridge".

Chloe appeared to be considering this. "Can I have my pancakes first?"

He smiled. "Sure".

He placed both plates at the breakfast bar and helped her onto a seat but she wobbly slightly. This wasn't going to work.

"Okay, just this once we are going to break the rules and eat on the settee", he decided helping her down.

"You never eat on the settee watching TV?" she sounded incredulous.

"No, I never eat anywhere other than at a table and certainly never while watching TV", he told her gravely picking up their plates so that he had something in his hands and could avoid the temptation of giving her behind a smack for being so impertinent as she moved ahead of him to the settee. She sat on it and patted the place next to her.

"Come on, I'll teach you how to be an ordinary American".

"I am fairly sure that there is nothing ordinary about you Chloe Sullivan", he sat down next to her.

"I think that my breasts are rather ordinary, don't you?"

He coughed. "No sweetheart, I think that they are definitely above average".

She looked down at them, considering his words and cupped them as if trying to judge. She pulled them this way and that and Lex put the plates down on the coffee table with rather more force than was necessary. She looked up at him, startled.

"I'll get you some water and aspirin, you will need them". With that he was gone, wishing that he could douse himself in cold water.

When he returned she was munching contentedly and accepted the water and aspirin with little fuss even though she didn't yet have a headache. He hoped that she was calming down but no such luck.

Chloe ran her finger along her plate for the last drops of nutella and licked it off her finger before popping it into her mouth and sucking on it as she thought.

Lex was certain that he was never going to make it through the night.

"Is it hard being a corporate big shot?" She asked.

His eyes narrowed, he knew her well enough to know that this was a leading question. "It can be. Why do you ask?"

"It must be a lot of responsibility, making deals and such like", she avoided his question.

"Indeed, it is".

"You have to keep your promise right? If you give your word to someone and then go back on it then it will mean nothing the next time that you try to make a deal". She was definitely going somewhere with this line of questioning.

"That is very true", he conceded, wondering what he had promised her that she was clearly about to try and claim.

"You promised me two dances, I only got one. And it wasn't even a full one", the pout had returned. He wondered if she had got everything she wanted as a child with that look as it appeared to be a default when vexed and drunk. He couldn't imagine anyone being able to say no to that face.

He smiled, that was all that she wanted.

"Go right ahead", he said and gestured to the space to the side of the coffee table. He had managed to turn the stereo off, but that could easily be rectified.

"No, with you", she stood up and stamped her foot.

"I don't normally respond well to stroppy females", he said, making his voice low and threatening as he stood up slowly. Lex took his time as he loomed over her, wrapping his arms around her waist before settling his hands on ass. He dragged her to him much amused by her expression.

"Oh", she gasped.

He gave her a squeeze. "I prefer polite requests".

"You promised", she reminded him, she made her eyes large and fluttered her eyelashes a few times. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, he tried to remain looking stern.

"I promised you another dance, I didn't say that it would be with me", he said, satisfied by the expression. "However, I will agree to another dance, if you ask me nicely".

She huffed, pulled a face – which earned her another squeeze – and sighed. "Mr Luthor".

"Lex", he corrected her.

"Lex", she started again, "would you be so kind as to honour your word and dance with me?"

"I didn't exactly give you my word", he teased her.

"Fine", she pulled away and he stopped smiling. She didn't get more than one step before she found herself back in his arms, "I was just looking for a please, sweetheart", he whispered.

"Pretty please with sugar and a cherry on top, will you shut up and dance with me", she requested sweetly.

"Certainly", he grabbed the remote to his stereo and put on a slow song.

"Oh no no no Luthor, for once you are going to dance to my tune", she snatched the remote from him and made her song selection.

Lex allowed her to boss him when he heard the first strains of the song and held her close, allowing her to grind against him.

"Sexual healing", he growled in her ear, "nice choice".

"What can I say? It spoke to me".

"Did it now?"


	27. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

"Uh hu", Chloe nodded and bit her lower lip as she linked her hands behind his head and let the music wash over her. Lex's hands travelled up and down her back, until she nuzzled back into his neck completely relaxed. She would probably have stayed like that, well behaved and pliant if she hadn't felt a rumble in his throat, as if he were chuckling at her. She wasn't going to have that.

She spun around in his arms so that now that he was holding her against him but with different results. He groaned slightly as she ground her ass against his budding erection. He could feel the smooth skin of her stomach under his hands, see her breasts framed perfectly by her red lacy bra and feel her ass as good as nude against the front of his trousers.

"Careful Chloe, anymore of that and I'll need a cold shower", he warned her, wondering how he could get her off him without offending her because his resolve was around ready to snap in two.

Chloe didn't seem offended by that, on the contrary she noted, "You're right it is very hot in here," before suggesting, "we should go out onto the balcony", already working on wriggling out of his grip and heading for the French windows.

Lex was close on her heals, "I don't think that that is very good idea". Chloe's hand was already twisting the key, but he wasn't having that. He placed his hands firmly on either side of her against the door, keeping them it closed – despite her attempts to open it - and effectively trapping her.

"But I'm hot", she complained, spinning around to face him.

"And I'm not having you give all of Metropolis a free show", he growled in a voice which brooked no disobedience. Or rather, which said that if she tried to contradict him on this and she would find herself in a very uncomfortable position.

"They probably can't see all of the way up here", Chloe reasoned.

"Probably not but it is not a possibility I'm willing to take with what's mine". It wasn't the first time that he had had a naked woman on his balcony, but those women hadn't been Chloe.

She shivered but announced, "I think that it just got even hotter in here". He loomed over her and she leant back into the glass which felt nice and cool against her flushed skin.

"I'm starting to think that you are the one who needs a cold shower", he said menacingly.

Chloe reached behind her, suddenly realising why she was so uncomfortable. She hated strapless bras, they were so uncomfortable and yet when she had sensibly taken off her dress she had forgotten all about her nasty old bra. As she flicked the clasp she breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, that was much better.

"What are you doing?" Lex asked as he noticed her hands going behind her, she couldn't be intending to … her bra fell to the floor. She was intending too. In fact, she had.

If he were a better man he wouldn't look, he shouldn't look, Chloe wasn't herself and tomorrow she would probably regret giving him a free show, if she remembered. It was his duty to be a gentleman and cover them her up, but what with? His hands might work. He pondered the dilemma until he was distracted.

"Is that better?" Chloe asked them as she fanned her breasts. "You were being terribly squashed in that horrible bra weren't you?" She asked as if they were actually going to answer and then turning her attention to Lex explained, "They were being squashed".

"So I see", Lex said, his gaze transfixed on the perfect white mounds with dusky pink nipples. They were slightly smaller than he had guessed when she was in high school but with the right nourishment that would soon change and they looked as if they had been made to fit in his hands.

Chloe clearly didn't agree with this as she massaged them, apparently wanting to check that the bra had not done any lasting damage.

"You are getting perilously close to that cold shower", he warned, once he felt that he could speak again. She had to stop doing things like that if she didn't want to find herself pressed up against the glass or bent across his balcony.

"Alright, as long as you come with me", Chloe agreed, and ducked under his arm and made her way in the general direction of the bedroom.

Lex gaped at her retreating figure, she only had her thong left on. Well the shower would probably sober her up a bit but he couldn't join her; that would be wrong. Although … thinking about it she was a little clumsy at the moment, and so there was always the alarming possibility that she could fall over in the shower. He had better supervise, for safety reasons.

"Come on then", he said catching her up and taking her hand to pull her through to the master bedroom to his private bathroom. Therein, there was a huge walk in shower which he which he set to ice cold. "In you go", he told her.

"Okay", Chloe said compliantly – not realising just how cold the water was going to be – she removed her thong much to Lex's shock.

"Can't take a shower fully dressed", she explained at his surprised look.

"Um … yeah", he agreed, as he noticed that she was waxed everywhere. He licked his lips.

"Aren't you going to get undressed?" She sounded disappointed, "Do you need help?" She asked, but he caught her hands before she could touch him, he would be a lost man if she ever got her hands on him.

"No sweetheart, I will just observe … for safety reasons. You enjoy your shower alone", he said feeling deliciously evil as he thought of how much was would probably _enjoy_ her freezing cold shower. Oh well, at least it would sober her up. As much as he enjoyed teasing Chloe, he hoped that she would not be too embarrassed when she realised what she had done.

Chloe looked as if she were going to protest but then broke into an evil grin, before trying to make it look angelic. The angelic smile concerned him far more than the evil one. Chloe sauntered into the shower and he followed her blocking the way out with his body as he knew what he reaction was likely to be. He wasn't disappointed.

She shrieked and tried to get away from the icy droplets by backing out of the shower.

"Lex", she whimpered as she found him blocking her way.

"Get back under the spray", he advised her.

She took a step back but was still just out of reach of the spray, as the shower was so large. She turned and considered the knobs on the other side, she would have to go back under the spray but she could turn the hot tape quickly, it would only be for a few seconds.

"Don't even think about it", he warned her.

"What are you going to do, spank me?" She called to him, not denying what she was planning on doing. "You are all the way over there", she taunted him wiggling her bottom, knowing that she was just out of his reach.

He smirked, drunk Chloe had some very good ideas but he chose to answer, "Only if absolutely necessary, but you aren't going to even touch those knobs".

He was correct as he happened. Before could complete the step she had intended to take forwards she found herself captured. He had somehow spun her around and was holding her wrists, forcing her back under the spray.

"Lex no", she whimpered as she got the full force of the spray. He was still fully dressed – except for his jacket which held everything important and was lying in the living room -, he didn't care if his clothes got ruined. He hardly felt the spray as Chloe's nubile body was successfully blocking him from the worst of it which was rather fortunate for him as it was very very cold, if Chloe's reaction to it was anything to go by - she was currently trying to bury herself into the warmth of his body. Deciding that her back had had enough of this treatment - and that the cold water wasn't enough in his case to combat the feel of Chloe's hard tight nipples against his damp shirt -, he turned her back around, still holding her wrists and forced her back under the spray.

"No please, I'd prefer the spanking", she complained as her face bore the icy blast.

"Kinky girl", he teased, not taking her seriously. He made her stay there for a full minute before walking them both forwards and turning off the water, hoping that his own brief dousing would prove to be enough to keep his erection at bay for the rest of the night.

"Fat chance", he thought as he felt Chloe shivering against him.

"Come on, time to get you dried off and into bed now", he announced as he lead her back out and wrapped her in towel set about rubbing her hair with another one before seeing to himself. He had forced her under the water; it was his job to ensure that she didn't get ill from it. Chloe was reasonably meek during having her hair dried, just happy to be getting warm again. In fact, she scowled when Lex finally decided that her hair was dry enough and left her, with the towel on her head, obscuring her view, unless the inside of his bathroom was purple and towel like … which she didn't think that it had been.

She was just about to remove the towel on her head when she heard him order her, "Arms up". She complied as the towel was removed and she found herself having something pulled over her head and covering the other towel that she was wearing which, once completely hidden, was removed as he rubbed down her body as Lex checked that she was dry. Once he was on his knees at her feet, he told her "Left foot up", she obeyed, holding onto his shoulders for balance, "right foot up". He slipped a pair or boxer shorts over her feet and then up her legs until they were in place, although very loose.

"Good job I had a maid who couldn't do laundry and shrunk all my underwear", he smiled.

Chloe looked down at herself, she was swamped in what she now realised was Lex's t-shirt. He smirked at her, reading her thoughts. If she was going to sleep in something, it would belong to him. _If_ being the operative word once they got back to the mansion.

"Off to bed now", he ordered her with a swat.

"But I haven't brushed my teeth yet", Chloe looked confused.

Lex nodded and took out an extra toothbrush and handed it to her.

"Thank-you", she said before getting to work, doing a very thorough job as she watched in the mirror as Lex finally attended to his own needs and stripped off his sodden- now delightfully see through- white dress shirt. She had seen him topless the day before but stupidly hadn't taken the time to really admire him. He was wonderful! He had a long strong back, although Chloe thought that it would look even better when decorated with a few scratch marks. As he bent over to pull off his shoes and socks she noted that he also had a lovely rounded bottom which just begged to be squeezed and possibly even pinched as he drove into her. His trousers were completely removed and she swallowed, accidently sending some toothpaste down the wrong tube. She coughed as she finished the job and washed her mouth out.

"Are you alright?" Lex wondered, straightening and turning to her.

Oh God help her, she could make out his … assets … though the dripping wet underwear and his long strong legs.

"Um hmm", she nodded, not taking her eyes off him in the mirror.

He smirked and turned around as he slipped off his boxers, towelled himself dry and slipped his pyjama bottoms on. In truth, he preferred to sleep in the nude, but that wouldn't be appropriate that night.

The slight gasp from Chloe told him that she was still not-so-subtly observing him through the mirror as he bared himself. He didn't mind, he wasn't shy but she really needed to stop making those noises unless they were supposed to be issued as a challenge.

He turned around and noticed her averting her gaze; he smirked and moved over next to her to take his own toothbrush. "Go and get into bed before you catch cold".

"You'll be in a minute, right?" She checked.

"Sure".

Seeming satisfied Chloe left him to continue his ablutions in peace.

Lex took his time and gave himself a stern talking to about not taking advantage of Chloe. Finally he left the bathroom, her panties in his hand and walked through his bedroom without sparing Chloe and the bed a glance.

"Lex?" She asked, sounding almost panicked. He had said that he would be in in a minute; he hadn't said that he would be staying.

"I'll be back in a minute, just checking that everything is locked up", he assured her. A few minutes later he did indeed return and turned out the main light as Chloe already had he light on. He smiled. He had given her the left side last night and she had apparently decided that that was now her side, and had made herself at home there, which was just fine by him. He passed her a bottle of water and told her to keep hydrated before turning his back to her as he sat down on his side of the bed and opened his draw and dropped something in it.

"Am I really that hard to look at?" Chloe asked as she raised herself onto her knees and pressed herself into his arm back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You know that you aren't hard to look at ", he chided her.

"Do I?" She nuzzled the back of his ear.

"You are gorgeous and you know it. And if you don't then we will get your eyes tested first thing tomorrow", he informed her.

"Then why do you keep trying not to look at me?" She sounded needy. Sober Chloe would never have voiced any of this - in fact if she remembered saying any of these things she would probably kick herself.

He sighed. "Because I need to keep control until you are definitely no longer under the influence of alcohol and can make your own decisions".

"I feel like I can make decisions now", she nibbled at his ear lobe.

"I know", his hands closed over hers.

"Do you want me?" She asked, her voice sounding small.

Lex turned around and held her away from his slightly by the shoulders so that he could gaze into her eyes.

"You know that I do".

"No, I know that you love me. That is not quite the same thing", she tried to explain what she meant.

"You believe that I love you?" He checked as he smiled – at least one thing that night had sunk in.

"Yes", she nodded.

He stroked her cheek, wondering how on earth she had got so screwed up that the level of flirting he had been doing with her didn't leave her in no doubt of his intentions. Well at least inebriated she would tell him these things so he could address them.

"I love you and I definitely want you", he assured her. "I just hope that you don't forget me telling you that tomorrow morning and scream when I try to hold you", he joked, mostly.

"I might forget that I have been told a lot of things, but never that you love me", she assured him.

She looked at him, they were so close. He loved her. He wanted her. His lips were so tempting.

"Kiss me".


	28. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Whose idea had it been for Lex to burst in on Chloe in a club, make her come home with him and put her in his bed, wearing his clothes and no underwear? Lex was fairly certain that it had been his, but he couldn't for the life of him remember why. Well, to be fair, that part of the evening hadn't been too bad, but when had he suddenly got morals? Why on earth when she had asked/demanded that he kiss her, had he been a gentleman and only done so on the forehead? Her lips had been right there in front of him, begging to be kissed, licked, suckled, nibbled, wrapped around …

Lex groaned. He should have kissed her, he should have had his way with her, intoxication be damned. Then he would be comfortably asleep now oblivious to her soft curves pressing into him, instead of lying awake trying to think of anything that would make his hard on disappear.

Lana. Lana in her cheerleader uniform. Ah, that was better. He gave a sigh of relief as the pressure ebbed a little. Chloe nuzzled up closer to him in her sleep, back to square one.

He looked over at the clock. It was almost nine, almost time to wake her up. He really had to get himself under control before then. He wasn't certain how much she would remember from the night before and he certainly didn't want to scare her. Waking up to find herself wrapped around him was now nothing new to her, but he wasn't sure how she would feel when she realised that the leg which always seemed to feel the need to drape across his torso was now so low across his body that it rubbed him in rather intimate areas every time she moved.

She shifted and he gritted his teeth. Whatever her reaction would be once awake the sleeping Chloe seemed to be aware of his problem was trying to create friction between them. He was fairly certain that she was going to wake herself up in a few moments and so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He wasn't sure that Chloe would actually believe it, but that would be a hell of a lot easier to explain than that he had been lying awake holding her for the last four hours while sending messages and conducting business on his iPad – which he had had enough sense to put in his bedside draw the night before – because he couldn't bare the idea of waking her up.

Chloe was in the middle of a very nice dream in which she was dancing with Lex in her underwear in his apartment – clearly at least half drunk – and Lex was pulling her closer, taking advantage of her willing nature. Even in her dream that seemed odd to her, Lex wouldn't do something like that when she wasn't feeling herself. She tried to think and felt the first traces of her dream leaving her.

"Oh fuck", Chloe thought as she woke with a start, lifting her head up. The sudden movement caused her head to ache and so she put it back where it had been. She had been very comfortable a few moments before.

She couldn't be bothered to open her eyes and look around, if she was where she thought that she was then she would just enjoy being snuggled up to Lex. If she wasn't, then she would rather stay in dream land for a little longer. She really hoped that she had gone home with Lex the night before, not one of the random men she had been flirting with just so that one of them could scratch her itch.

Breathing in deeply she recognised Lex's smell, although it didn't smell like the mansion but that would make sense if they were in the penthouse. Her pillow – a man's chest she had now worked out – was rising and falling just as Lex's had on the other nights, and felt smooth and hairless. Yes, it had to be Lex. She could feel pure silk sheets against her skin, his big strong arms around her and … something very large rubbing itself against her leg.

"Oh", she gasped.

She had to be sure now. She opened an eye just enough to peer out of it, she lifted herself up on one arms and saw Lex's face in repose. She smiled as she informed him, "That isn't going to fool anyone. You are clearly awake".

"And you are clearly no worse for wear after your drink filled evening", he replied, not opening his eyes.

"I'm not sure about that", Chloe said, sitting up. She leant against the headboard and was grateful that Lex had left her a bottle of water by the bed. She replayed the events from the night before, her mind sometimes getting a little stuck but eventually succumbing to her prodding, and telling her what had happened. The only problem was that she couldn't believe it.

She looked down at herself. She was in Lex's room, so clearly he had taken her out of the club. She was wearing his t-shirt. So the shower scene must have happened which meant that.

"Arghh!" Chloe half screamed/half moaned as she buried her face into his chest and heaved the blanket over her head.

"Hey didn't you get a good enough look last night?" Lex couldn't resist teasing her as he opened his eyes. He couldn't make out her reply. He tickled and squeezed her through the blanket. "Why don't you come out of there and talk to me? I can't hear a word that you are saying under there".

"No, too embarrassed", she said loudly enough for him to hear and causing him to smirk. He refrained from asking if this was any less embarrassing and looked for a way to pull the blanket off her only to find that she had cocooned her head in it.

"Alright, if you won't come out then I am coming in", he said and slid under the covers to join her.

He couldn't see her but he could feel her and so he felt around to find out where her head was as he said, "Cozy under here isn't it. I might have to send out change of address cards. But you know it's even nicer out there".

"You have to be kidding", Chloe scoffed at him. "If even half of what I think that I remember from last night actually happened I can never look you in the face again". She had briefly forgotten about what she had felt rubbing her leg only a few moments before, if not then her current position could have been even more embarrassing.

"Well that would be a shame as I like you looking at me. What do you remember from last night?" He inquired, trying to sound casual.

"Um", Chloe tried to hedge. She didn't want to tell him things she remembered just in case they hadn't actually happened. Judging by the fact that she was wearing his clothes, she could assume that she had taken her clothes off so she started, "I made an exhibition of myself".

"You could say that", he knew that she was fishing but didn't withhold the information from her, just because he could as he would have with most people. "Luckily I stopped you from going out on the balcony to impress Metropolis with your nude dance routine".

"Oh God", she groaned.

"How much did you see?" She had to know.

"Everything that you have", he answered honestly.

"Oh fuck", she swore.

"Well I would be lying if I said that that wasn't my first thought but I refrained as you were drunk and probably didn't mean it when you begged me to take you", Lex tested the waters, wondering how much she really did remember.

"I didn't do that!" She protested, then with a touch of trepidation added, "Did I? I don't remember doing that".

"No, you didn't actually beg me although you did make yourself rather irresistible", his body reacted noticeably to the memory. "Always talk to your breasts when drunk?"

"I don't know, I haven't had alcohol since I was 16", she replied honestly. She blushed to remember what she had done the last time that she had over imbibed and was happy that the dark covered it up.

"Well it happens to us all", he rubbed what he thought was her shoulder. "Why don't you come out now?"

"No", she said, still feeling embarrassed. The shower incident coming back in Technicolor, he must think her the biggest idiot but then something else tried to poke her foggy brain. Something important.

"Okay, don't come out for me. Come out for coffee", he coaxed pleased not only for thinking of the perfect way for get her out but also not making any "and while your down there …" jokes.

"Coffee?" Her tone was hopeful. "You wouldn't lie about something like that would you?" She checked as she began to crawl out with him.

"Of course not", they both came up for air. He stroked her hair out of her face, "You never have to be embarrassed in front of me", he kissed her nose then froze.

"Um Lex", Chloe started, "Did you confess something to me in the back of your car?"

He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, he had put himself out there and she was trying to see if it had really been real. He could remind her that she promised never to forget or he could be a little more evil.

As he pondered both options, he could practically see the angel and devil on his shoulders. His angelic side was a little redheaded Alexander looking sickeningly saintly and telling him that he loved Chloe and should be kind. The evil Lex he looked a great deal like him and held Chloe's red thong as a trophy. His – far more persuasive – argument was that she hadn't said it back … yet, so why should he make it easier on her?

Well Lex considered, he had listened to Alexander the night before and hadn't kissed her, so it was naughty Lex's turn. Evil Lex smiled smugly and booted Alexander off the other shoulder, reminded Lex not to be a pussy and to fuck her until she couldn't walk and disappeared. Fully sized Lex briefly wondered if Chloe had a naughty Chloe on her shoulder and if so, did she know his naughty shoulder Lex?

"Oh yes", he smiled. "And I can't thank-you enough for being so kind when I confessed my undying love for Lana, really I didn't think that anyone would understand …"

She was gapping at him, she had remembered wrong. Her brain must have just been protecting her from … she saw his smirk. He was going to die.

Chloe grabbed the pillow and launched herself at him.

Lex laughed at her attempts to beat him to death with his own property. He let her continue for a minute as he could easily defend himself from her attack, before grabbing it from her and throwing it away. He grasped her wrists and flipped them over so that she was underneath him, he had very definite plans to tickle her into submission when he saw her eyes flicker slightly.

"Are you alright?" He checked. She was obviously still not quite recovered and moving her so quickly had not been a good idea.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just went a little dizzy", she smiled up at him reassuringly.

"That is probably because you haven't had coffee in hours", he said hopping off her, "I'll get you some".

"Oh goodie", she got up to and followed him into the kitchen much to his delight. He had never offered to bring a woman coffee in bed before but he was fairly certain that if he had most would have accepted it rather than following him to visit the coffee machine.

"That has got to be the most gorgeous thing that I have ever seen", she gasped in awe.

"Caught a glimpse of yourself in the chrome fridge?" He asked, as he was fairly certain that it wasn't his ass she was talking about.

"The coffee maker", she said. "Can I touch it? Please? I'll be gentle and oh so good to it".

"You can touch anything you like darling", he told her arrogantly.

Her eyes glazed with lust Chloe moved slowly over to the coffee maker and reached out to caress its top gently, "You are so beautiful", she whispered to it. "You shouldn't let Lex hide you away like that. You are so much bigger than I was expecting".

"It is just a coffee maker Chloe", he told her, his still neglected hard on was feeling rather left out, it wasn't its fault that it couldn't make coffee.

"It's not just a coffee maker, it is the most beautiful coffee maker in the world. My favourite shop in all of Metropolis had one of these, it made the best coffee in the world, until it closed down. I offered the man who own the shop my car, my virginity and my first born for it but he said that he had had a better offer".

"Not better, but I think that the bank manager liked mine better. I can't understand why", he looked her up and down. "What will you give me for a cup?"

"What do you want?" She wondered turning to look at him, thinking that he had a car pretty much just like hers and that her virginity was long since gone.

He had already put the machine on and left the cups to fill.

"Is that a serious offer?" He asked, raising his eyebrow in the way that he now knew she found sexy.

"Absolutely", she replied without second guessing herself.

He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her to him. "A kiss".

"No problem", she said, pressing her lips softly against his forehead just as he had done to her the night before. "That was what you wanted, right?"

"Of course", he smiled graciously, appreciating the irony. Evil shoulder Lex and mini Lex did not, in fact he was fairly certain that they were conspiring to take her against the fridge.

There was a whistling sound which announced that the coffee was ready and Chloe bounced up and down, as – he noticed through the thin cotton of his t-shirt, did her unfettered breasts. He was definitely going to need to have another cold shower.

"Lex", Chloe asked thoughtfully, "do you remember what I did with my clothes?"

"They are in the washing machine", he explained, "but I had your stuff brought over from Oliver's and a couple of dresses and things", he waved his hand in the direction of the settee where her bag lay as did her new clothes. Sometimes it was very nice to be rich and powerful.

"Oh Lex, you didn't have to do that", she said as she looked over at the bag and noted that they were from the best boutiques.

"It was nothing", he struggled as he put the finishing touches to their coffees.

Chloe gave him a kiss on the cheek, then took her coffee excitedly. She breathed it in and moaned.

A cold shower was definitely going to be needed.

She tasted it. It was gorgeous. Yummy. Scrumptious. If he wanted her first born he could have it.

"I could have one of these put in the mansion if you want", he offered.

"You wouldn't tease about that would you?" Chloe checked.

"Nope, 100% serious", he said wondering how quickly one could be made and delivered.

"Then you really have to, it is brilliant", Chloe continued in drink her coffee.

"Do I get another kiss?" He wondered.

"Sure", Chloe gave him a coy smile as her own little evil Chloe rubbed her hands mischievously and angelic Chloe (who looked like Chloe at five) hid her face behind her hands in a dramatic display to show that she had nothing to do with this … before spreading her fingers so that she could see.

Chloe placed her now empty coffee cup on the side before taking his and down in the same. He looked at her with interest as she pressed herself up against him, allowing his to feel her full breasts growing tight at being in his presence.

She trailed her hands over his bald head, delighting in the feel of his soft skin, before kissing him on the cheek again. She then whispered in his ear, "And better than that, I will give you some nice thoughts for your shower", she glanced down at his prominent hardness.

Lex gulped, he had really been hoping that she hadn't noticed that.

"I really hope that you weren't thinking of taking a cold shower to get rid of that, I can think of much better uses for it", she dragged her nails down his throat gently.

"Really?"

"Oh yes", she assured him as her thumb brushed over his nipple. "So many wicked, delicious ways that would help relax you".

He gulped.

"Well, I suppose that they wouldn't relax you at first, they would work you up to the point where you would lose your mind and lie underneath me thrashing around, begging for relief", she pinched the nub between her fingers and watched in delight as he took in a sharp breath, "but in the end I think that you would end up very … relaxed". She leaned in to lick and sooth her rough treatment.

"Chloe", his voice sounded hoarse as he grabbed her shoulders. Her teasing fingers continued their journey south, circling his navel.

"You know something Lex, there are so many things that I wanted to try but was always too afraid to", she licked her lips, "but I think that you are the man to experiment with". She made her eyes overly large and innocent as she looked up at him, "Have you ever …" she started to whisper extremely naughty things into his ear.

Lex slammed his eyes shut and willed himself under control; he was not going to lose in all over Chloe just from her words.

"Well Lex, what do you think?" She asked as she pulled back slightly.

His mouth was too dry to answer, as he tried to produce enough saliva to do so, she continued, "Such a shame that you are too much of a gentleman to take me while you are still not sure that I am not part intoxicated, isn't it? Otherwise you could have just bent me back against the counter and had your way with me right here and now".

Somehow she had slipped out of his arms and skipped over to her new bags, calling over her shoulder, "Enjoy your shower Lex".


	29. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

She wasn't going to get away with it. For once the devil and the angel on Lex's shoulders were in complete agreement and Chloe Sullivan was going down. Evil Lex had been hopping mad at her little trick – although begrudgingly respectful too – he had wanted to throw her down on the settee and ravish her. It had been Alexander who had stopped him, but not as one might have thought because he wanted to save her, he just had a better strategy. He had fought all night against evil Lex to respect her and not to take advantage, and now she was throwing that back in his face? He wasn't going to have that! He had commanded entire armies of toy soldiers; he wasn't going to be undermined by some girl. This was war.

Her description of what his situation would be before she gave him release played around in Lex's mind as he took care of the evidence of his arousal in a distinctly hot shower, and served as the inspiration for his plan.

"Spanking", evil Lex suggested.

"That's what you always come up with", Alexander rolled his eyes, "leave the strategizing to me".

Evil Lex looked about ready to protest so Lex promised, "You will get full run when we get her where we want her".

"On her knees doing point one of the things she has never tried before", they both agreed.

By the time that Lex had finished his shower and had gone back into the living room he found Chloe sitting there at the table with breakfast laid out and dressed in one of the new dresses he had brought for her.

"Hello", he greeted her, "what's all of this?"

"This is my thank-you for taking care of me last night", she said, blushing a little, "I can't imagine that that is how you would have liked to spend your night".

He shrugged and sat down across from her, "I didn't mind. I would rather that I be the one taking care of you than someone else …" he trailed off.

"Yeah, me too", Chloe said. "Wait, I don't mean that I want you to take care of me, I want to take care of myself, but if there is something then", she tied herself up in her own words.

"It's alright, I got what you meant", he smiled.

"You should have made her say it", evil Lex sulked. "Not fair that we said it and she didn't have to".

"She'll be screaming it by the end of tonight if my plan goes ahead", Alexander assured them.

"Good", Chloe smiled. "We had better get started before it goes cold", she said as they dug in. After a few minutes she asked, "What are you doing today? I mean, are you staying in Metropolis?"

"Yes", he answered, "I've got some work to do this morning", he wondered where this was going.

"Right, it's just that I'm going to a spa with Lois this morning/afternoon and we were going to have dinner with Ollie and I was wondering …"

"Yes?" He asked realising what she was trying to get at now, but wanting to hear her say it.

"Would you like to come?" She blurted out.

Evil Lex choked and Alexander glared at him.

"Very much so", Lex strove to maintain a straight face.

"Good", she looked delighted but then worried her lower lip. She wanted to ask, she had to ask. No, she couldn't look that needy. But he had gone out on a limb the night before, he had told her that he loved her. That had to make it alright to ask. "After the dinner, I was wondering whether I should … would it be alright if …"

"You are coming back here or we are going to have a very serious problem", he announced in something approaching a growl.

Chloe smiled.

"I don't ever intend for you to spend the night, when you are in Metropolis, anywhere but in my apartment. Understood?"

"Understood", she said, for once not caring that he was being high handed.

Angelic and evil Chloe hugged each other in triumph. Angelic and evil Lex knuckle thumped.

Lex handed over the wad of cash to the woman who had led him through the meandering passageways and kept him out of the public eye.

"We have arrived, Mr Luthor", she said as they reached the door and she gave him the key. "You have as long as you need, we will distract anyone who asks questions".

He nodded to her in thanks before entering the room. It was large light room and smelled vaguely of fruits and flowers. There were hangings all over in which created a filmy appearance and offered more privacy; he couldn't yet see his quarry.

Lex locked the door and moved around the gauzy curtains which hid Chloe from him. He had of course known that Chloe was going to the spa before she had informed him of the fact and had already planned on paying her a visit there, but her words that morning had given him slightly more detailed ideas.

He restrained a groan as he saw her lying on the massage table, covered only by a thin sheet waiting for the arrival of her masseur – who was currently in the Bahamas on an all-expenses paid vacation. It required all of his self-restraint not to rush to her and embrace her - he had to keep the endgame in sight.

Chloe didn't respond to the sound his footsteps and just made a relaxed sighing noise as he turned on the rainforest soundtrack before making his way over to her and pulling the sheet back completely.

He bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood in an attempt not to groan, and give the game before he got what he wanted. He took out a small tube from his pocket and left it on the side of the bench before placing his hands on her head.

She moaned at the first touch, he was glad that he had looked so carefully at the form she had completed on what she liked. Scalp massage had been on there followed by several exclamation marks. The extra punctuation had apparently been well warranted. He raked his fingers through her silky tresses and she groaned again. He was suddenly very glad that he had thought to replace her masseur, there was absolutely no way that she was ever being massaged by anyone else if she made those noises from a simple scalp massage.

The image of Lana in her cheerleader uniform was pulled out from the back of his mind again as he discovered that Chloe also liked having her ears massaged. He probably should have moved on a little sooner than he did, it wasn't prudent to pay more attention to her lobes just to hear her moan again but even Lex couldn't always be practical.

Lana flirting with Clark worked well for a little well, luckily his task was made easier once he go onto her shoulders as his for her body battled with his desire to scold her for letting such a work of art get so stressed and tense to start with. It was ridiculous. It took in a good half an hour to get enough of the knots out that he could actually feel her muscles properly, not that he was complaining. The whole of her back and arms were the same and he was getting her Dictaphone when they got back to the mansion, her hands and wrists were so sore – judging by the groans that massaging said areas elicited – that it was a miracle that they still worked.

Focusing on how Chloe had been neglecting her body worked quite well as a method of ignoring the lush curves that he was caressing until he reached her bottom. There Alexander and evil Lex almost came to blows over the proper treatment of the area. Finally – after being promising full control in every sex position from then on – evil Lex gave in with ill grace and Lex massaged her appropriately before going down to her legs. As he did so he made a mental note to talk to Chloe and explain that the spa's nudity policy did not have to be followed by her; no one – not even females – should see that part of her body except him.

He grinned as he ran his hands along her legs before kneading them, making sure to change over to his special oil - it wouldn't matter if she started to cotton on to what was happening now. Hopefully her mind would be too fuzzy to think straight or react quickly enough to stop what was going to befall her.

As he got hold of her feet he almost bounced with excitement, she would realise the deception soon and then he would be able to get onto the really good stuff.

"Oh", Chloe moaned softy, as he exerted a little more pressure on arches of her feet, apparently feeling the effects of clubbing in stilettos. God help him, she was so sensitive. So far everywhere that he had touched her had evoked some response, some noise. If she was like this in bed then he really would have to consider selling LuthorCorp and just staying at home with her permanently.

As he finished her second foot she groaned thinking that her time was over and started to lift herself up slightly only to find herself turned over and facing "Lex".

"Hello sweetheart", he smirked down at her.

"Get out of the way", evil Lex elbowed Alexander out of the way. "I'm in charge now".

"What are you doing here?" Chloe wondered, her mind distinctly fuzzy.

"Well you didn't think that I was going to let someone else touch this sumptuous body, did you?" He asked as he ran his thumb across her collar bone.

Her breathing quickened and he decided that he definitely preferred this view – as nice as the other one had been -, now he could see her breasts heaving, the flush of colour in her cheeks, her lips parted in arousal and her pupils dilating.

"God you are gorgeous", he growled.

"What are you doing here?" She repeated her question, a hint of trepidation in her voice. Lex picked up on it and grinned in a way that left no doubt as to who was in control.

He fixed his eyes on her face as he ran his hands down over her breasts, as if he had every right to. Her head rolled back slightly, her lips parted a little more.

"Well, after your little trick this morning I thought that it was only fair that I explained some of the more intimate things I had been thinking of doing to you". A thrill shot up Chloe's spine at his words. He had better not back down this time.

"The alcohol must be completely out of your system by now, so I see no need to keep on being a gentleman", he pinched her nipples and she arched up into his hands.

"Lex", she moaned his name.

The look on his face was downright predatory. "It's funny that you should say that, as there were several things that I wanted from that mouth of yours".

"Like what?" Chloe asked, her voice only faltering slightly. She licked over her suddenly dry lips.

He chuckled, "Well I like the way that you are thinking but that can wait for a little while. I was thinking more along the lines of certain words and phrases that I wanted to hear you say, like my name", another gentle pinch.

"Lex", his name was ripped from her throat.

This was going very well; he was determined to make her chant his name. He replaced one of his hands with his mouth, teasing her nipple to an even stiffer peak with his skilled tongue, he repeated the process on the other side and heard his name interspersed with demands that he not stop. It was satisfying but he pulled back. Brushing her hair away from her face so that he could see her eyes, he whispered, "You really haven't quite understood who is in charge here yet, have you?" His other hand travelled down, and cupped her between the legs.

She gave a mew.

He bit her earlobe gently. It served it right; it had been tempting him for days.

"Who is in charge here?" He demanded.

"I …" she tried to protest.

He grinned, always so rebellious, he liked it but he wasn't going to let her get away with it this time. He rubbed a finger against her clit.

Her eyes filled with shock, and gasped, "You".

Lex looked smug. He remembered her saying something about not letting people touch her before and worked out that that had clearly included Jimmy for the most part; she had clearly not been touched down there by anyone before. Well he would be more than happy to show her exactly what she could expect when she came to his bed.

He continued tease her, watching her face as it twisted in pleasure and confusion at what was happening to her.

"You've never done this before", it wasn't a question.

She shook her head.

"No wonder you were so tense and irritable", he laughed.

"Don't be mean", she pleaded.

"Don't worry, I won't be", his tone was as smooth and sweet as honey, "I'll be as kind to you as you were to me this morning".

"No", she protested.

"What, worried that I am going to leave you high and dry? Teasing you but never quite giving you what you want?" He ran the hand that wasn't occupied between her legs across her breasts again, holding onto one of her nipples but not rolling it as he could tell she wanted.

"Lex", she whimpered and brought her hands to her chest, one over his hand and one over her exposed flesh.

"Ah ah ah", he chided her gently and withdrew his hands from her body completely. As much as the thought of watching her play with herself appealed to him, that wasn't what he had come for that day. "Hands by yours sides please".

She did as he said, but with ill grace. He didn't need to say that he wouldn't continue until she acquiesced.

"If you want something, all that you have to do is ask", he coaxed her.

"Touch me, please", she all but begged.

A jolt of desire went through him and he had to stop himself from acting on it immediately. Trying desperately to seem nonchalant, he prodded, "Where?"

"Anywhere". She wasn't being picky at that point.

"Here?" He asked, lifting her wrist as he dragged his thumb across the sensitive inside to feel her pulse racing.

"Here?" He repeated the operation on the other wrist.

"Anywhere you want", she said.

"Are you sure about that Chloe?" He asked, as he raised them in line with her shoulders and pinned them there.

"Are you sure that you know what you are getting yourself in to?" He wasn't teasing her anymore. "I am not a kind or a good man Chloe. I am possessive of anyone I care about and I love you more than I ever thought possible". He paused, "If you agree to be with me then that is it, I won't have you just as a fuck buddy you will be mine and only mine. You will belong completely, 100% to me. I won't have anyone else touching you. I won't have anyone hurting you and I reserve the right to deal with anyone who tries in ways that would petrify even you".

Chloe gulped.

"I'll do anything to make you happy. I'll make love to you so tenderly that angles would weep, and fuck you until you can't walk the next day and everything in between but I _will_ have you. If you are even the least bit scared", he held her wrists more tightly, reminding her of her position, her weakness under him. "Then don't agree to this".

She breathed. She wasn't afraid of him, she had been in love with him for years. It was true that she had doubted him the day before, but not anymore. She trusted him and she wanted him.

When she didn't say anything immediately he looked sad and released her wrists. He stroked her face before taking a step back.

"I'm not scared", she blurted out, sitting up and reaching out for him.

He stared at her. That wasn't the same as saying that she loved him, it wasn't the same as agreeing to be his only. It wasn't what he wanted, but it was a start.

"I wouldn't blame you if you were", he assured her.

"But I'm not. Lex, look at me Lex!" She grasped his head in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "I'm not afraid of you", she enunciated every single word.

He stared at her for a moment before seeming to relax, but still with a slightly wounded look in his eyes. She couldn't bear to see it, she wanted to see his smug confident look again.

"Now", Chloe said trying to get back onto his game rather than this, maybe that would relax him. "What was it that you wanted to hear, other than your name?" She asked, nuzzling his ear and running her hands down the front of his shirt.

"Oh plenty of things", he smiled smugly down at her as he laid her back against the table. "But I think that I will let you figure those out for yourself", he said as he brought his fingers up to her lips, still sticky from her.

Without having to be bidden Chloe licked them clean, pouting when he removed them before she could suck them into her mouth.

"Stop pouting unless you want your lips thoroughly ravished", he threatened.

Her bottom lip jutted further out.

"Very well", he sniggered as he lowered his head down trailing kisses from her collar bone, in between her breasts, over her stomach and to …

"Oh Lex, fuck yes", she whimpered, holding his head where it was as he did indeed ravish her with his mouth.

She arched up against him, one hand flying to her breasts the other to his head.

"Oh yes Lex, please Lex don't stop."

Well that was defiantly one of the things that Lex had been planning on getting from her that afternoon. He lifted her hips up and threw her legs over his shoulders.

"God, that is better than the coffee maker", she panted.

Well there was a compliment that he hadn't been expecting, but it wasn't surprising as he felt her body tense. He smiled as he inserted a digit and felt her convulse. She really was inexperienced in foreplay if that was all that it took. He let her ride out her orgasm before placing her back on the table.

"Oh God, that was so good", she moaned, "never ever been that good before". Once she had got her strength back she reached out for him, wanting to make him feel good too.

Lex grinned at her reaction and studied her stunned face as he popped his finger in his mouth and licked it clean. Chloe sat up and pulled Lex down to her, determined this time to taste his lips.

"Not now sweetie, I don't think I heard absolutely everything that I wanted to from those delicious lips of yours", he teased her, "besides Lois will be wondering where you are". With that he left her, "See you at dinner".

"That bastard", evil Chloe scowled, "I wanted more!"

"Don't worry, we'll get it", good Chloe assured her, looking distinctly dark. "By the time that we are through with him, he won't know which way is up and which is down".


	30. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

"So, what was the traffic like?" Lois asked as she looked awkwardly between Lex and Oliver. It hadn't been a complete surprise when Chloe had demanded that Lex join them for dinner that night and as much as Lois had been hoping for some intimate time with her cousin and Oliver (like a little family) she didn't mind too much and was still more than happy to do as Chloe pleased. She had jokingly told Chloe that the indulgent treatment was probably only going to last another week so she should make the most of it. When she had said that however, she had thought that Chloe would be there to ease the conversation along.

"The traffic was a pain", Lex replied calmly, "should have taken the helicopter". He didn't mention that he had got out of his chauffeured car a few blocks away from the restaurant and sprinted the distance when he had realised that he was late and that the traffic showed no signs of moving quickly enough. He was whipped and Chloe hadn't even agreed to be his girl yet.

"For a couple of miles?" Lois asked in surprise.

"Yeah", he looked around for Chloe again. "You are dating a billionaire, you should know that we don't do well when we are made to wait. Where is Chloe?"

Oliver snorted and bit back comment; he was going to get along with Lex. He knew that he wasn't the same jackass that he had been all of those years ago at Excelsior, neither was Oliver come to think of it. And more to the point, his girlfriend wanted this and so did Chloe – who he now viewed as his little sister.

Lois ignored the billionaire comment and looked around again for her cousin, "I don't know. We arrived and when she received your message that you were running a little late but that you would be here within five minutes she said that she had seen someone she needed to speak to and disappeared … that was quarter of an hour ago".

Lex's jaw clenched, she had seen someone that she had to speak to. Someone so important that she couldn't wait for him to arrive so that they could go and converse with them together. He tried to calm down, maybe it was an old friend from High School. Maybe it was a girl and they had got distracted talking about girlie things. He would have snorted had his breeding allowed such a display of bad manners, that wasn't Chloe. More likely she had seen a potential story that would get her in trouble and followed it. She could be in danger. She could be flirting. She could be calling Lois on her cell phone.

"Where are you?" Lois asked by way of greeting. "Yes, he is already here. His coat? No, he isn't wearing one. I don't know if he was wearing one when he came in. Hang on a second, I'll ask him".

She turned to Lex, "What did you do with your coat?"

"My coat?" He repeated in confusion. "Is that Chloe, where is she? Is she alright? Why does she want to know about my coat?"

"Yes, I don't know, yes and I don't know and you won't get anything out of her until you tell her what she wants to know, you know that", Lois said.

"That was a lot of knows", Oliver muttered under his breath earning him a look from Lois which should have resulted in fear rather than a cheeky smile.

"I didn't bring one", Lex answered the question about the whereabouts of his coat.

Lois relayed this information and laughed at Chloe's obvious tirade, he could just about make out the words "death of cold" and "idiot".

"Where are you?" Whatever the response to that question was it make Lois guffaw. "Nice one cuz, sorry it didn't work out for you but you know that that is what happens when you try to have sneaky plans that don't include me. See you in a minute", she hung up.

There was some tutting from another table about phones, excessive noise and the manners of some young women these days and talking to the manager about a stricter policy of admittance.

"Go right ahead, I'm sitting at a table with Lex Luthor and Oliver Queen, I guarantee I won't be moved", Lois announced loudly causing Oliver to take a sip of his drink to hide the fact that he was obviously laughing as Lex mumbled, "Unless we ask them too".

"Please, Luthor. You are so busy panting after my cousin that you aren't going to do anything to me", Lois said confidently.

He couldn't deny it so he just settled for giving her his most quelling look.

"Pussy whipped", Lois coughed, loving the fact that sitting with billionaires meant that she could be as vulgar as she liked and not get kicked out, not that she wouldn't have put up a fight had anyone ever tried that whoever she was sitting with.

"Who is pussy whipped?" Chloe enquired coming up behind her cousin and putting her arm around her to give her a squeeze, it had not escaped Chloe's notice that Lois had sounded a little nervous on the phone. She was still clearly worried about Chloe being around so many people.

It still felt odd to Chloe to suddenly be so surrounded by people but it no longer made her really nervous after a couple of deep breathes, getting everything out in the open then night before had really helped as had the fact that she now knew that she could do it.

"Take your pick", Lois gave Chloe's waist a squeeze as the baby turned her teasing eye on Oliver.

"Aw Ollie, has Lois got you trained already?" She walked around the circular table passed her seat and over to the blonde, and gave his hair a ruffle before taking her seat. The waiter, Oliver and Lex stood to help her with her chair but she sat down unaided and gave them all a weird look. "God you are all spoiled, you especially", she finally pointed a finger at Lex.

He would have preferred another greeting but at least now she was paying attention to him. He was happy to have been seated across from Chloe as it made it easy to look at her, but he couldn't help but wonder if he had been sitting next to her would he have got the brief physical contact instead of Ollie? Would she have ruffled his hair? Had he had hair, of course. She seemed annoyed with him, but Ollie got his hair ruffled. Life wasn't fair.

"I am?" Lex asked.

"Yes, thinking that you can wander around without a coat. It is freezing outside, what were you thinking? That the normal rules don't apply to you? You go out in weather like this, you wear a coat!" She informed him.

Lex couldn't believe it, he was being told off in a public setting. He was well aware that both Oliver and Lois were looking at him and probably with great amusement. He didn't feel like admitting that he had left his coat in the back of his limo as it would impede his running.

"Alright, I will wear a coat when I go out in the cold in future", he gave in. God, he really was whipped. He wouldn't have done that a week ago.

"Good", Chloe's attention was now wholly occupied by the menu.

"Although I don't see how that makes me spoilt", he said unwisely.

"Because you think that you can just do whatever you want and not wear a coat and just wander in at any time without going to check your coat in", she muttered darkly.

None the wiser as to his actual transgression Lex asked the question that had been bugging him, "Where did you go?"

"I was in the cloakroom". Her face was still hid behind her menu but he could practically see her petulant expression.

He smirked. No wonder she was so put out about him not wearing a coat, she had been waiting in the cloakroom so that she could pop out and grab him when he passed it and ambush her as he had done to her that afternoon.

Oliver's shoulders shook with mirth. Chloe noticed this and looked over at Lois as if requesting permission to torture him, Lois nodded.

"This is on you right Queen?"

"Of course", he smiled.

"Good, because Lois and I have decided that we want to try every dessert on the menu".

Lois nodded in agreement.

Oliver put his menu down with a smile, that didn't surprise him particularly and he didn't see the point in choosing his starter or a main course if they weren't apparently having anything but dessert.

Lex just raised an eyebrow at that statement, he had no intention of allowing Oliver Queen to pay for him … or Chloe come to that, and he certainly wasn't going to have her eating only junk as he knew she would quite happily do if left her own devices. He had seen her doctor's reports before she went onto the base and started being fed there, her protein levels were always dreadfully low especially considering the amount of exercise she was now doing every day. All of his hard work over the last week to make sure that she was being fed up wasn't going down the drain in one night just because she wanted to get back at Oliver for laughing at her.

"After your main course", he said calmly, apparently studying his own menu but actually observing the table's reaction. Lois and Oliver were trading looks which seemed to state that Lois was backing Chloe and Oliver was putting his money on Lex. Oliver had learnt a lot about business in the last few years.

"I'm not sure that we will have room for main and dessert", Chloe said pretending not to pick up on the undertone. If she pretended that it wasn't there then it wasn't. Lex wouldn't say anything more in public, or so she thought.

"Order something or you are getting steak", he informed her and caught her eye. There was steel in his gaze and Chloe wanted to fight back against it, she wanted lots of pudding to make up for her failed plan, but self-preservation won out. She might be able to win the battle – maybe – but she had the feeling that it was more likely that Lex would just order her the biggest steak on the menu and tell the waiters not to bring her anything else until she had finished, by which time she would have no room for cake. She liked cake. And she didn't want to make a scene or be made to bend to Lex's will. She could still get out of this with her pride intact.

"Oh", she squealed, pretending not to have heard him, "They have pollo alla cacciatora here".

Lex grinned, that was one way to get out of an awkward situation. He noticed the smug look on Oliver's face and the incredulous one on Lois' - she had clearly never seen her cousin bested by anyone before.

"Great choice, I'll have the same", Lex announced putting down his menu and looking at the other two, he wasn't going to have Chloe feeling like the odd one out just because he wouldn't let her essentially skip a meal. As they returned their attentions to their menus he studied Chloe, she looked a little sulky now. Poor thing, it was upsetting when a plan didn't go right and he didn't want to be mean to her and boss her around but she was slightly underweight now, she hadn't had a period in over four years and if left to her own devices would start eating like she had before she had been taken. He wasn't going to have her making herself ill because she didn't pay enough attention to nutrition; they were going to be together until he died … not the other way around.

He slipped off his shoe and leant back in his chair so that he could reach well under the table and run it along hers, giving her a smile as she stared at him. She couldn't believe that Lex Luthor was trying to play footsie with her under the table, in a crowded place with her cousin sitting next to her. She should have knocked his foot away but she didn't. This was clearly his way of saying that he was sorry about not wearing a coat, that meant that she had won. She returned his smile and slipped her foot out of her shoe.

Their teasing caressing game continued throughout the polite dinner conversation and main course until Lex finally succeeded in getting his foot all the way up under her dress so that he could rub against her panties. He grinned as she heard her squeak.

Lois looked at her in polite inquiry.

"My phone", she said, and he could feel her rummaging around for her shoe under the table, she was planning to bolt. Well, she wouldn't get very far.

Finally she found her shoe and he had to reluctantly remove his foot as Oliver pulled Chloe's chair back and she grabbed her bag, "I have to take this. It is a potential job offer".

Lex stood up politely as she left as well, before sitting back down. Then he felt his own phone ringing and had to leave, muttering his apologies.

"Quite understandable, I know what business is like", Oliver said as he left, waiting until he was out of the room before asking, "So, they've gone to fuck in the bathroom?"

"I would have thought so", Lois said as she sipped her wine.

"One way of burning off a few calories and making room for dessert", Oliver said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Are you proposing something Mr Queen?" Lois arched an eyebrow at him.

"I might be. It seems a shame to let Chloe's idea about the cloakroom go to waste".

"Alright but we had better be back before they are", Lois said getting up and grabbing his hand, not bothering to be discrete about what they were going off to do. In fact, she rather enjoyed the scandalized look from the old biddies who had been talking about her before.


	31. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

Lex watched as Chloe entered the bathroom and smirked, this would be fun. Controlling his first impulse to charge in there after her he motioned over the manager and whispered something to him, everyone knew who Lex Luthor was and that it was best to do as he requested/demanded. This particular man was no exception, he beamed with pride that the famous Luthor was in his establishment and that he had been singled out perform a task for him - even if it was one that sounded a little strange. He stayed by Lex's side only long enough to fawn over him before scurrying to the security centre of the restaurant to do his bidding.

Chloe jumped as the door to the female restrooms banged open.

"Out", she heard a familiar voice ordering and watched in only mild surprise as the few other occupants of the room ran for the door. When they were gone, Lex locked the door. Chloe placed her hands on her hips, decidedly unimpressed.

"In case you are having problems reading Lex, this is the girl's toilet, not the men's", she tried to sound haughty, but had to fight the urge to blush as she thought of what she had actually come in there to do. He must have realised what effect he had had on her.

"No, no problem reading. You left the table and I was worried about you so I followed", he looked completely innocent as he moved her to her side. She turned so that she was resting back against the sinks, he placed one hand on the counter top next to her and the other tucked her hair behind her ear.

"You were worried?" She repeated, not believing that for one second.

"Of course, you seemed flushed and", he gave her a knowing smile, "agitated".

Chloe scowled at him, "Imagine that".

His grin grew. "Oh, I am".

She crossed her arms over her chest, no need to give his imagination any fodder.

"Are you always so grumpy when you don't get your own way?" He asked, making sure that his hot breath tickled her neck.

"Only when I'm thwarted twice within the hour", she replied, not bothering to deny that she was irritated with him.

"Well, in my defence you didn't tell me that you wanted to hook up in the cloakroom, had you told me that I would have remembered a coat", he told her and watched as the corner of her mouth quirked up, but she strove to maintain her pose. "In fact, I would have brought several".

"You weren't supposed to know about it before it happened", she sighed, "It was _supposed_ to be an ambush".

"In future tell me in advance and I promise to act surprised", he said, meaning it.

That did make her smile. But she was worked up and hadn't got any relief yet and she wasn't certain that Lex wouldn't try to turn her on but not give her what she wanted again, so she wasn't in the mood.

"And I wanted cake", she reminded him of his other, possibly far more serious, sin.

"Who's stopping you from having cake?" Lex asked her, letting his fingers run through her hair, eliciting a moan from her which she tried to underplay.

"You", she could feel his strong chest pressing against her folded arms and could feel her resolve weakening.

"No I didn't, I just made you eat some protein first so that you would have enough energy for the rest of tonight", he placed several kisses along her neck.

"Cake gives you energy", she argued, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck of their own volition.

"Only in short bursts. You wouldn't be able to last through the night I …" Her lips on his cut him off.

He was surprised at first but quickly took over the kiss, raking his hands down her back as they tongues duelled, allowing her lust to almost hit fever pitch before tearing himself away.

"You're a tease", she accused. "You tell me of all of these things when we both know that you will back down at the last minute and ah", she gasped as she found herself hoisted up onto the counter.

"That's something coming from the woman who came up with the shower speech this morning", he growled as he tugged her knees apart so that he could stand between them and drag her back to the edge of the surface so that she could feel the evidence of his desire for her, hard against her thigh.

"Oh", she whimpered, squirming slightly against him as she tried to make her brain catch up with body.

"We should stop", her words lacked conviction, "if you aren't able to carrying this out to the very end …"

Lex moved his hips against her and gave her neck a nip in warning before speaking, "Do you really think that you can goad me into giving you what you want without saying what I want to hear?"

"Maybe", she made no move to deny that that was what she had been doing.

"If you were planning something in the closet that you must have known what I would want, you must have been ready to give it to me …" He ached with need, and not merely the physical kind.

"I _was_", she admitted.

"And now?" He demanded, hoping that she was only teasing him. He had come so far, hung so many hopes on this one moment. If now he found out that she didn't feel anything for him in return … well he didn't know what he would do, but drinking himself into an early grave seemed like the most logical and painless option.

"And now I think much the same as I did two minutes after you left this afternoon", she left him hanging.

"Chloe, tell me", he begged her. This was cruel, far worse than what he had done to her. She was messing with his heart, and as much as Lex hated to admit it he had one and it was firmly within her power.

"You are an over protective lunatic who has absolutely no idea of how to act around people or where the line between love and possession is, so I will clear it up for you", she pulled him closer. "Everything that you said about yourself was true, but in case you haven't noticed the good people in my life get hurt, I need a man with the Luthor survival ability who I know will never leave me."

"You agree to be mine?" He checked, beyond desperate.

"Wrong way around darling, you are mine!" Chloe growled possessively and attacked his mouth hungrily.

"Works for me", he pulled her off the counter and spun her around. He wanted to take his time, discover every inch of her, hear her whisper that she loved him, but there was no time for that right then. They could do that later … and they would do that later. Right then he needed to be inside her, and from the way that she had kissed him she was almost as desperate as he was.

Chloe slammed her hands down on the marble surface as Lex moved her hair out of the way and kissed the back of her neck as he unzipped her dress and pulled it off her shoulders. She hadn't worn a bra and shuddered as she felt her nipples tightening now that they were exposed to the cool air. She didn't have long to worry about this as Lex reached around to cover her breasts with his hands.

They moaned at the same time and Chloe arched back into him. This was very good. She didn't know why they hadn't done this before. Fighting the urge to close her eyes and give into the sensations, she looked around the room. It was large, stalls behind them, walls on either side and a small settee at the end of the room. The floor was marble and so out, it would have been too cold.

"No", Lex worked out what she was thinking, "right here". He leaned to the side for a moment to get a thick hand towel and roll it up before putting it in front of Chloe to protect her.

"Right here?" She asked as he then took her dress and put it on the side before pushing her panties down her legs. She couldn't see him properly even twisting so she focused on his reflection in the mirror. He was standing right behind her, looking at her over her shoulder. He was fully dressed but she was naked from the thighs up – a fact that was make extremely obvious in the huge mirror in front of them.

"I want to watch you", he supplied helpfully, just in case she hadn't got it yet.

"From both angles?" She asked.

"I'm greedy", he told her unapologetically as his eyes trailed over her body.

"I would never have guessed", she shot back, finding it strange that she didn't feel the need to cover up in front of him. His gaze made her feel bold, rather than shy.

"You should be very happy that I am trying to overcome some of my worse character traits after that comment", he warned her ominously. "Wave to the cameras", he advised her.

"What?" Chloe looked confused.

With an arrogant smile he pointed out the two security cameras. One by the door – which would get a view from behind – and one pointing directly at the mirror.

Chloe gasped.

"Don't worry, I already spoke to the manager, no one will ever see this except me", he informed her - and he wasn't just referring to those tapes, no one but him was going to see her bare flesh - as he kneaded her perfect milk white skin. It was just a ploy to distract her from the fact that she was completely on display, she knew it … but she would let him get away with it.

Lex was already rock hard and needed no more encouragement but had he not be, the noises that Chloe started making at that would have been enough to make him so.

Watching her reactions with delight, he moved one hand down to cup her between her legs. Chloe pitched forwards slightly and put one hand out to steady herself, the other going up to the breast which Lex was no longer fondling. She mirrored his movements having never been touched there before – other than that afternoon by Lex – and not quite sure what to do or what would feel good. She soon found out.

She bit down hard on her lip as Lex decided to caress her clit at the same time as pinching her nipple, afraid that she would scream. Apparently that was indeed the reaction that she could expect every time that she was with Lex, she had not been remembering that afternoon as having been better than it really was.

Guilt washed over her, she was there getting so much pleasure but she wasn't giving anything back. She wanted to please him but when she tried to move Lex ordered her, "Stay where you are. I want to see you".

She shuddered both at the commanding tone of his voice and his touch. This was far better than her cloakroom fantasy had been. In her fantasy Lex had been more pliant, less demanding and willing to give in to her on everything, this Lex was far bossier, far more teasing but decidedly far more real. For several long minutes she tried to keep herself under control as he teased her before slipping a finger inside her. She slammed her eyes shut. She wasn't used to this. She wasn't a virgin by a long shot, but she had no experience of this kind of treatment. His pace quickened and she was soon clamping down around his fingers, tears forming in her eyes something inside her broke.

Lex was smug, "Don't bite your lips like that, it doesn't matter if you are loud. In fact, I want to hear you".

She released her lip and licked over the sore wound she had left. She whimpered slightly as Lex tried to draw out her orgasm for as long as possible and her hips ground ludely against his hand without her commanding them to do so.

When he did finally remove his finger from her she reached behind her and grabbed his hand and brought it to her lips. She watched his reaction intently as she took each long, talented finger into her mouth and sucked and licked it clean. He jaw tensed as he said, "Tell me".

"I want you Lex, I want you inside me right now. No more teasing, no more foreplay. Just fuck me", she had never been more sure of anything she had said in her life.

"God you're bossy", he growled, thinking that he should probably delay things just to torture her but found that his hands had already undone his trousers and shoved them and his boxers down to free himself.

"You know that you love it", she reached around behind her trying to touch him.

"True, but you'll have to learn to share control in the bedroom", he announced, secretly thinking that that would be a fun war and one which he wouldn't mind losing occasionally. "Put your hands on the counter or mirror, you are going to need to brace yourself", he informed her, checking that the buffer he had made from the towel would protect her thighs. He had no intention of being gentle that time.

Chloe did as he said as she felt his hands pressing on her back - so that she was bent over - and angling her hips. He ran his hand between her legs once more just to check that she was wet enough – not a problem – and then slowly entered her. He hissed; she was so tight and wet and warm.

"Oh", Chloe moaned trying to push back against him; it was a god job that he had told her how to position herself. She had never done it like this before, she had always been on top, no touching other than of the genitals allowed.

Lex gave her a moment as he felt her muscles expanding to accommodate him. He had no idea how he had not done this before, he should have taken her the first time that he saw her in the office of The Torch. He should have bent her across her desk in her little office and pounded into her regardless of the fact that she had still been in High School, there being strangers, and the presence of Clark.

"Please Lex", Chloe whispered and he began to move again, holding tightly onto her hips, guiding her back against him. Chloe picked up his rhythm and stuck to it only straining to push back against him harder. Seeing that she could take more he increased his pace, thrusting into her more deeply each time.

Chloe tried to match his movements as sweat broke out all over her body, her palms slipped against the cool surface and she struggled to get the leverage that she wanted. If it weren't for Lex's hands on her hips she feared that she would have gone crashing into the mirror from the force of his thrusts.

She could just see over her shoulder in the mirror, Lex looked supremely put together considering the wicked things that he was doing to her. It annoyed her that he was still dressed, how had she ended up nude and him still with his shirt perfectly buttoned? Another particularly hard thrust put this thought out of her mind. She forced her weight against her hands, hoping that that would make them stay better as she ground back against him.

Lex was in ecstasy. She wanted him, she was letting him do this to her and he had it on tape. He grinned wickedly. Looking down he could see himself disappearing into her. Looking into the mirror he would see her face, flushed and sweaty and contorted in an expression which looked almost like pain but which he knew was from her impending orgasm. He swallowed as he made out of the form of her bouncing breasts, jiggling with every thrust. He increased his pace, trying to make them dance to his tune.

"Oh God, yes", Chloe panted, now just trying to make sure that her arms didn't give out before they finished. She could feel another orgasm approaching but didn't know if Lex was near his release.

"Say my name", he commanded.

"Oh Lex, yes", she obliged him.

He glanced around the room; her arms were obviously not going to hold out much longer if the way that they were shaking was any indication. There was no other place he could move them to which would be better and he really wanted to get everything on tape, he could make her come in this position another time. Reluctantly he slipped out of her, as he brought her body up and turned her around, forcing her to sit on the towel and spread her legs. He grabbed her hips immediately, and pulled her right to the very edge. "Put your arms and legs around me", he ordered.

Desperate for him to re-enter her, Chloe acquiesced and was not disappointed.

He sheathed himself in her, going right up to the hilt causing Chloe to cry out in pleasure.

"Don't stop", she pleaded.

"Keep making noises like that and I promise I won't", he thrust into her again, relishing her pleasure as well as his own. She wasn't timid with him: she was vocal – having forgotten that the outside world existed; she clung to him, her legs around his back and her arms clutching at his shoulders in a way that would have left marks had he not been wearing a shirt. He wouldn't have minded the marks, not from her. In fact he would see if he could get a few later and then go and find a way to walk around without his shirt on a lot.

"Lex harder please", she gasped as she began to tremble.

Thinking that he wasn't sure that he would have been able to do anything else Lex continued to ram into her with all of his might, only wishing that he could have had meteor powers that would have given him extra arms so that he could have touched her breasts or her clit at the same time.

With an ear splitting cry, Chloe toppled over the edge. She collapsed onto Lex, her hips still rocking against his but other than that completely spent.

Lex came as well with a roar, only then realising that they hadn't bothered with condoms. Oh well, he mused they were both clean and he had no objections if Chloe got pregnant. If she didn't want to risk it she could always take the pill.

As they both recovered, Chloe gave him a long, hard passionate kiss telling him, "Make sure that you get that tape before anyone else does".

"I will", he promised her, holding her clothes. He was flaccid now but he still didn't want to remove herself from her, he had waited too long for this moment to have it all taken away. He felt like if he let her go, that would be it.

"Hey, don't look so upset", Chloe stroked his cheek. "We'll get tidied up, get dressed, have cake – to get our strength up – go back to your apartment and do it all over again".

He grinned at her. "You still want cake, in the crowded restaurant where I am fairly certain that everyone has heard what I just did to you".

She seemed to be considering this for a moment and Lex felt a trickle of fear go through him, he had just been joking. He had been happy that she had not minded people knowing that she was his, he hadn't thought that she might really be ashamed. It was stupid of him, he should have realised. Nice girls didn't just do things like this …

"Maybe they heard what I did to you", she smirked before nuzzling his neck and licking over the skin she found there.

"Maybe", he answered, not sure where she was going with this exactly. He finally removed himself from within her and rinsing himself off with water from the tap and drying with the towel, which Chloe was no longer sitting on as she had just got up to gain better access to his neck, he tucked himself away. He reached behind her to moisten the towel and ran it along her back and over her thighs to make sure that she would be comfortable as they ate their pudding only to yelp in surprise as he felt her bite him and suck the skin gently into her mouth.

He smirked; the little minx was determined to mark him. Well that was fine by him.

Once Chloe had finished and seemed satisfied that she had left a large enough hickey on a prominent enough part of his neck she allowed Lex to help her back into her dress and straightened her hair as he left to get the tape before returning to the table.

Chloe make her way back just in time to hear Lex apologising to Oliver and Lois that his business meeting had taken so long.

"And I suppose that there was a queue in the bathroom", Lois wiggled her eyebrows as Chloe, "which is odd as several people came out of there almost an hour ago looking rather embarrassed".

"What?" Chloe looked innocent, "A girl can't have a little naughty time with the man she loves in the bathroom at a restaurant anymore? Sheesh. Now, stop stalling and give me my pudding".

At that moment the waiter came over with a large assortment into which Chloe practically dived.

Lex looked at her in shock. Had she just said? Did she just say? He looked at Oliver.

"Yep, she just announced to the whole table that she loved you", he confirmed. "Scone?"


	32. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty**

"Are you coming out any time soon?"

"Are you going to make it worth my while?" Chloe's voice drifted through the door of the bathroom.

"I'll certainly do my best", Lex assured her as he surveyed the room. The curtains were closed and the lights were on low creating a romantic setting with the candles everywhere. He had changed sheets so that they were deep red silk and scattered rose petals everywhere. Satisfied that the outcome was sufficiently romantic – if a little cheesy – he turned on some soft music. He grinned, this was how the first time was supposed to be. So what if for them it was going to be the second … and a half.

He heard her laugh from the other side of the door.

"What exactly are you doing in there?" He wondered.

"You know the normal, getting dressed, doing my hair and my make-up", Chloe explained as she put the finishing touches to her hair.

"You do realise that whatever you are wearing is going to end up on my bedroom floor in under a minute, your hair is going to be tousled not long after and I don't imagine that your makeup will fare much better", he said as he looked down at himself, he was just in his boxers, new clean ones and he had taken a shower in the other bathroom but that was about it. He wondered if he should have done something special, although he wasn't entirely sure what with.

"Just for that I'm staying in here even longer", Chloe teased, already making her way to the door.

"Please we both know that you can't resist me or", he broke off as the door swung open to reveal an angel. He would never again make fun of her for taking too long. She was gorgeous. Well, she was always gorgeous but this was ridiculous.

Her hair was still dark but she had curled it as that is framed her face like a halo, her skin was as soft as ever but her makeup made her look at once innocent and womanly. Her form was clad in a wispy white negligee. She looked like a bride. He grinned. This was how a first time was supposed to be.

"You look amazing", he told her honestly as he moved over to her and ran his hands down her arms. "Simply amazing".

She smiled up at him, feeling almost overcome by the love in his eyes.

"You don't look too bad yourself", she retorted taking in the expanse of skin on offer.

"I'm glad you approve", he said, still unable to take his eyes off her.

His gaze was hungry and yet she wasn't in the least bit frightened, although her skin tingled with the thought of what they were about to do for the first time in a long while she was truly calm and at peace. There was no doubt in her mind that she was doing the right thing by giving herself to him completely. Not a quite fuck in the bathroom or the cloakroom which could have just been love, but planning to make love to him, there in his bed.

"I do", she assured him. She tore her eyes away from him to look around the room. She smiled. He had gone to so much effort to make this night perfect for her, to make this the night every woman should have for her first time making love and it was perfect. Whatever happened next, his caring about her this much made it perfect.

"Lex, before we do anything I have to tell you something", she started seriously.

"What is it?" He asked, running his hands up and down her arms, "You know that you can tell me anything".

Hundreds of possible problems ran through his mind, each more terrible than the last.

"Hey don't look like that, I promise that it is nothing bad", she assured him as she reached up to run her hand along his brow as if trying to smooth out the worrying lines.

"Then what is it? You sound so serious".

"I am, that is why I want to tell you now. Before I am all worked up and you can't be sure how much of what I say is lust. I know that I didn't tell you in the right way earlier, I guess that it is easier for me to joke about my feelings than be honest about them but you deserve the truth".

"Chloe?" He asked again, still looking nervous, but at least he knew that she wasn't sick or something.

"I love you Lex, with all of my heart and soul and anything else I have that is capable of love and which I don't know about".

A grin broke out across his face, "I love you to Chloe".

Chloe rose up on her tip toes to reach him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down. Their lips brushed against each other in a sweet, fleeting caress. They met again and again growing bolder with each passing second, their passion over taking them. Lex captured Chloe's lower lip between his teeth and tugged on it slightly before licking over it, she moaned, her lips unconsciously parting and granting him access. His tongue flicker against hers and she drew him into battle. Her hands gripped at his shoulders and ran over his head, desperate to pull him closer and continue their duel. He, anxious for the same result, wrapped one arm around her lower back and lifted her off the ground to gain better access. When after a few seconds even this no longer sufficed he looped his other arm underneath her knees and carried her over to his bed.

He set her down in its centre and wanted to drink in the sight of her there on his bed flushed with desire and waiting for him, but she had other ideas. Chloe pulled him down on top of her by his shoulders before turning them over so that she was now sitting astride him. Now it was her turn to look down on him waiting for her, she wanted to take her time and examine him thoroughly but she couldn't resist swooping down and planting a kiss on his adorable nose. Then another on his cheek, then another then another until his entire face had felt the caress of her lips.

"You are so gorgeous", she murmured, unable to help herself even though she knew that that was not the usual thing to say to a man at that moment.

Lex just smiled up at her fondly, lacing his fingers in hers as perused him. He would have liked to return the compliment but he couldn't, there were simply no words.

He brought each of her hands to his lips and kissed them gently, wondering how a large engagement would look on her. A proprietary thrill shot through him, the whole world would know that she was his, but he tried to stamp it down. That night was about love, pure and simple, not ownership. He knew that if he were going to keep her (and he was!) then he would have to learn the difference and quickly.

Chloe leant forwards allowing Lex's hands to take some of her weight as she planted a gentle kiss against his lips, moaning as he slid his tongue into her mouth. Her eyes drifted shut and she removed her hands from his so that she could draw even closer to him, placing her forearms either side of him, and allowing her hands to caress his scalp. If the guttural noises he made at this were any indication, he enjoyed having his head massaged as much as she did. She knew that they would make an excellent couple, having so many things in common.

Lex's hands moved down her back and over her bottom, squeezing her gently as he did so. He tried to slip his hands under her nightie to feel her silk panties but Chloe pulled back to whisper, "Not yet".

He looked disappointed but removed his hands.

Unable to bear his expression Chloe sat up for a moment so that she could stroke his cheek and explain, "I want to make tonight last", then she took his hands and placed them in her hair and captured his lips in a searing kiss.

He would have grinned had his mouth not been otherwise engaged.

Chloe was torn, she didn't want to stop the onslaught on his mouth but her body was crying out to taste other parts of his skin so slowly she let her hands trail down his body and allowed her mouth to follow them. She nibbled and licked her way down his neck, halting her progress only when she found a particularly yummy tendon and when she wanted to ensure that the hickey she had given him earlier was still very visible.

Lex tangled his hands in her hair, delighting in the feel of her mouth against him, especially when he could make her moan and he felt the jolt go through him. He tried not to remember what she had said that she would like to do to him that morning and how that would feel. He was determined to allow her to do what she wanted with him and only what she wanted. He wouldn't try to prompt her at all into doing something that she wasn't ready for.

This resolve was sorely tested when Chloe reached his nipples and apparently decided that it would be a good idea to see if she could make him lose his mind through excessive nibbling, licking and occasionally pinching. Whilst the scientist in his appreciated the endeavour, the man in him appreciated it a little too much and he knew that if he didn't hurry her along soon he might explode.

He raked his fingers through her hair causing her to groan, almost as if she were in pain, although he knew that she was not. This seemed to be enough to cause her to decide that torturing him might not be a good idea as he could always reciprocate, and investigated the path down his hard stomach to his boxers.

She moved back to kneel between his parted thighs before examining him. She licked her lips as she saw his hardness even through the silken undergarments. Glancing up at his face she smiled at the fact that he was so obviously desperate but not in the slightest embarrassed.

Pretending to be pondering her next move – although they both knew full well what it was going to be - she ran a finger along the waist band, searching his face for some sign that this might not be what he wanted. There was none. He didn't say anything and he didn't break eye contact, this was entire her decision.

She was a little nervous and she should probably have felt shy under his gaze, considering what she was planning on doing, but she didn't. He made her feel safe, and loved, and unbearably hot.

Lex moaned as she stroked him through the material and had to ball his fists in the bed clothes as he strained not to raise his hips against her; he didn't want to scare her off.

Chloe grinned wickedly seeing the power that she had over him, even unskilled as she was. She experimented a little longer rubbing him at different tempos until he growled her name. Finally she decided that it was time to unwrap her present. Slowly she reached inside had ran her fingers over him before pulling his boxers down.

"Yes", he hissed between his teeth as she wrapped her hand around his stiff length and began to stroke him in earnest.

She stared at his face and strained to catch every sound that he made, trying to work out if she was doing this right. Should she be more or less assertive, she wondered. She tried both and found that the answer in this case was more.

Unable to restrain herself any longer she bent over to taste him and watched in amusement as she could actually see his body stiffen.

"Chloe you don't have …" His voice sounded strained and broke off completely as Chloe ignored him and tasted him again, this time allowing her tongue to swirl around his head as the heroines of the romance novels she had read – just for educational purposes, of course – were wont to do.

"Fuck yes", he groaned.

Inspired Chloe did it again and received a similar reaction. She tried to combine moving her hand over him with licking and kissing him with very pleasing results as Lex's hands tangled in her hair making sure that her head stayed exactly where it was. He was through trying to be chivalrous. He told her exactly what he wanted her to do and found that Chloe was not only a quick study, she was a fucking perfectionist.

Unfortunately - or fortunately for him, depending on how you look at it -, the little minx decided that she knew better than him just over half way through and opted to do the things she had already worked out drove him crazy even when he advised her against it. Lex tried to warn her, he really did but somewhere between his brain slowly turning to mush and Chloe's pig headedness he came in her mouth even though he hadn't intended to.

He heard Chloe's squeak of surprise and the evil part of his brain relished it, as she refused to back off and tried to swallow him down and lick him clean as he cradled her head. When she did remove her mouth from around him she coughed slightly and Lex helped her crawl up to the head of the bed before taking the bottle of red wine he had left by the side of the bed and offered her a glass.

She took it gratefully and swallowed a few restoring mouthfuls of the dark liquid.

"I did try to tell you", he said as he ran his hand along her stomach.

"Oh, so that was what 'Oh fuck yes, don't stop Chloe' meant", she said smugly as she placed her half empty glass on bedside table nearest to her.

He smirked, "My my aren't we cocky now that we have given our first blow job".

"Did I? Did I do it right?" She asked, a nervous edge to her voice.

"Fishing for compliments, are we?" He wondered as he ran his hands along her sides.

"No, I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't done something wrong", she tried to explain, not sure why he was teasing her when she was talking about something so important.

"What do you think?" He asked her, looking up at her as he began to remove her nightie.

"You came, so that is good", she checked.

"Very", he assured her, wondering how someone who had had sex as many times as she reportedly had could have never tried any of these things before. Well, it didn't matter. Lex would introduce her to everything he could think of, and then some.

"Do you want some wine?" She asked, realising that he hadn't had any and reaching back over to offer him her glass.

"Actually yes I do, I suddenly find myself extremely thirsty", he answered, "let me just get this off first", he whipped off her negligee over her head.

"Impressive", she commented.

"It's not my first time", he reached over her to take the glass.

"I can tell", Chloe laid back against the pillows, seemingly quite relaxed and waiting for him to have his drink before they got back down to business. He smirked, she really was innocent in many ways, well that would soon change.

Watching her face intently to capture the moment when she realised what he was planning on doing and her reaction to it, he tilted the glass to allow a stream of red wine to cascade over her.

"Oh", Chloe gasped as she felt the cool liquid splash against her stomach and, as she arched, run down her chest, over her breasts and almost reach the hollow of her throat before Lex caught it. It was an especially good year he thought as halted its flow and began to follow the trail back to its source around her navel. He delighted in the feel of her soft skin beneath his mouth and the little noise she made in the back of her throat - and seemed incapable of keeping in - which went straight to his cock.

As he finished lapping around her tummy button, she sank back down to the bed thinking that he was finished.

"You know what, I think that I am still thirsty", Lex announced as he raised his glass over her again. "But where to drink from?" He pretended to consider the matter just as she had before removing his boxers.

"Straight from the glass?" He teased her with the notion and watched as she shook her head.

"No, you're quite right. Where would be the fun in that?" He was about to move the glass down over her hips when he felt her hands closing over his and bringing the glass up until it was just over her breasts.

He smiled, "Right here?" He asked.

"Right here", she replied with a nod.

"Whatever my angel wants, my angel gets", he promised her before pouring the first few drops over her creamy flesh. She whimpered and arched up against him as he commenced the second round of the indescribably sweet torture. It really was amazing just how long half a glass of wine could last when one drank it only in droplets and insisted upon cleaning up very thoroughly before tasting the next drop.

By the time that he was done Chloe was a writhing, whimpering mass beneath him. By the time that he had finally decided to go down on her she was completely insensible coming after only a few swipes of his tongue, but Lex would not have that. He insisted upon bringing her to a climax again before finally crawling back up her body and kissing her hard. She moaned, tasting herself on him as well as the wine.

Chloe had had such plans for that night, none of which had been followed but this had still exceeded all of her expectations.

"Do you want to …" she trailed off, "Or is three times too many?"

Lex grinned smugly down at her, "Hey I knew a Brazilian woman once who bragged of her husband managing three times in one night once, I have to prove myself at least up to his standards. It is a matter of national dignity", he teased.

"I hoped that you would stay that".


	33. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Chloe woke up extremely well rested the following morning and enjoyed the feeling of being snuggled up to Lex. She had, of course, come to expect this over the course of the last week, however this was the first time coupled with the delicious soreness between her legs, the evidence of what they had done to each other the night before. She grinned like a cat who had got the canary, as she slowly and carefully turned around in his arms so that she could gaze at him.

He looked so sweet and peaceful in his sleep, she didn't want to disturb him, but she wasn't sure how long she could lie in his arms and not stroke him or nibble his yummy neck. She really didn't want to leave his arms but she thought that she didn't have much of a choice, she considered for a moment before deciding on a course of action.

Carefully and reluctantly she eased her way out of his arms, replacing herself with a pillow which he snuggled up to cutely murmuring something that sounded like mine.

"Yes sweetie", she whispered unable to keep herself from placing a gentle kiss on his brow, "All yours". She smiled almost sadly at that, trying not to think of the day that she would have to leave him. She did not know how she was going to manage it.

Chloe shook herself. There was no sense in thinking of such things now, she might as well just enjoy the time that she had with him and hope that that would see her through. She padded into the kitchen to make them some coffee and cereal – as that was all that she knew how to make – and placed it all on a tray before heading back to the bedroom.

Lex began to stir slightly in his sleep, he could tell that something was not quite right and held on to Chloe tighter only to realise that she was a pillow.

"Chloe", he whispered reaching out for her.

"Over here sweetie", Chloe called to him as she laid the breakfast tray down on the bed.

Lex opened his eyes to see her kneeling on the bed looking down at him, still without a stich of clothing on and looking entirely unembarrassed.

"Fuck you're gorgeous", he groaned as she propped himself up on one elbow and reached out to her with the other arm to pull her down.

"Yeah yeah so you keep telling me", she teased, grinning from ear to ear. She wouldn't think about anything bad for now, this was just about them.

"Well it is true", he assured her in between kisses. "You want to know what your only flaw is?" He asked.

Chloe pulled back and looked down at him suspiciously, "My ass?"

"No, that is perfect", he sounded annoyed and resolved to give said body part more attention later on to make up for Chloe's shabby treatment of it, didn't want its feelings to get hurt. "This habit that you are getting of leaving my bed to get me food. That is what we have servants for", he pointed to the intercom, "you're only job is to be here in _our_ bed".

"Well I think that I am going to keep my day job too, but I will certainly try to remember that", she giggled as she felt herself being pulled down so that she was lying completely on top of him.

"God you smell good", he groaned as she nuzzled her neck.

"That would be the coffee", she said, well aware that she still almost smelled quite a lot of him. She would have to shower, just as soon as he stopped being so comfy.

"Chloe and coffee, the perfect morning", her purred.

"And don't forget coitus", she added cheekily, hoping that pushing for another time wouldn't be too much, he had already more than out performed he Brazilian.

"Breakfast can wait", Lex ran his hands down her sides, feeling more than up to the challenge.

"No it cannot", she pulled away and gave him a tap on the shoulder, "I poured hot milk on the cereal as an extra treat – although you shouldn't get used to this kind of pampering", she warned him.

"Warm milk? Wow, you really did stretch your culinary talents, didn't you?" He said with complete seriousness, sitting up. "Sit back against the headboard and pull your knees in", he told her as he dragged the breakfast tray over to them, he didn't want to risk her knocking it over and scalding her legs; he knew how clumsy she could be at times – especially in the morning.

"How much sugar did you put on there?" He wondered, noticing the white powder on the cereal, as he passed her her bowl and positioned the tray so that she had easy access to her coffee cup.

"Lots", she grinned, "about five spoonful's. You know they don't allow you to have sugar in the army", she pulled a face.

"If that is the amount that you usually use, then that might have been a good thing", Lex commented taking the first bite of his overly sweet breakfast. The fact that Chloe was the one who had made it was really the only way that he could get it down as he was not a huge fan of overly sweet things.

"I didn't used to eat cereal", she informed him without considering her words, "I skipped breakfast or had a nice muffin". The look that Lex gave her caused her to take an extra big bite of cereal, and add, "But I'm eating it now. See". She wouldn't have liked to have been across from him in a business meeting.

"I see", he said in a dangerous tone.

"And a sore bottom would impede my eating", she pointed out, trying to head him off.

He chuckled at her, "Yeah, that's what's saving you right now".

Chloe stuck her tongue out at him for being so bossy – it seemed like the right thing to do -, causing Lex to raise an eye brow at her. "God who taught you your eating habits?" She demanded, "because you know, for someone who I know skips meals and gets nowhere near enough sleep …"

"My mother", he cut her off.

"Oh", Chloe was struck dumb for a few moments. She did not know what answer she had been expecting but that certainly had not been it. "Lex I'm sorry", she finally apologised in a whisper.

"Don't worry about it", he told her, not sure why he had even brought the subject up. This was not something that she should be worrying about. He looked over at her and noticed her pinched expression. He sighed, clearly she was just going to be anxious about this until it was cleared up. "Well, my Dad actually decided what I was going to eat and be given at boarding school and had the servants make sure that I ate it, but the fear of seeing someone I love eating badly and losing weight came from my mother", he explained.

Chloe put her spoon down, "Would it help to talk about it?"

His desire to say no and just let the subject drop was great, but not as great as his desire to keep her happy. "Keep on eating and I'll tell you what you want to know", he offered.

She took another huge spoonful.

"My mom wasn't well for a long time, even before she caught the illness that killed her she was sick", he really didn't know how he was going to explain this. "My mother and father argued a lot when I was a child about different things, this affairs, his work, the fact that he wouldn't let her have a career and me … they fought about me most of all. At first my mother would scream back at him but after a while she just got tired I guess, became more withdrawn. She always looked sad and a little tired", he sighed.

Chloe reached out and placed her hand over his.

"The more upset she got the less she ate until she wouldn't eat anything at all", he took a deep breath. He hated talking about these things but he knew that if Chloe had been the one upset, he would have made her talk about it; he couldn't ask less from himself than he demanded of her. "I don't know whether that was because she was trying to punish Lionel or because she didn't want to eat but that was what happened. Her weight fluctuated massively throughout my childhood sometimes she was so weak that she couldn't even get out of bed, then my Dad would give her anything she wanted just so that she would start eating again", Lex grimaced at the memory.

She squeezed his hand trying not to think mean thoughts of his mother for what she had put him through.

Lex looked over at Chloe and could practically read her thoughts and see what she was trying to fight back. "It was pretty manipulative of her actually", he admitted, there was no use in denying it. "Logically I know that, and I know that she was in part to blame for putting herself through it but I just can't get the image out of my head. They had this fight, a real blow out even for them and then halfway through it she just gave up. From that moment on she said nothing but yes and no and ate nothing. She was like a zombie, it rained all that week and I remembered thinking that even the weather was depressed".

Chloe squeezed his hand again and laid her head on his shoulder, she didn't know what other comfort she could provide him with.

"She had always been thin and fragile looking, but after not eating for an entire week and hardly drinking anything she looked like death. I was in her room trying to see if she wanted some of the chocolate coins I had saved from Christmas, thinking that it might tempt her but she refused. I remember going downstairs to call a doctor because I was really worried. Lionel overheard and slammed the phone down and told me not to tell everyone our business. He then went upstairs and tried to force food down her throat until she chocked, I tried to help but she still wouldn't eat. I tried to stop it but I couldn't", he shuddered at the memory.

He had jumped on his father's back, clawing at him and screaming for him to leave his mother alone only to be thrown clear across the room. The young Alexander had stood up, blood oozing from the gash on his head only try again and again with similar results. It had only been when his mother had thrown up dramatically over everything and almost turned blue that Lionel had stopped. He had left and Lex had ran to the bathroom to fetch a wet wash cloth to try to clean her up, forgetting completely that he was bleeding. His mother hadn't noticed the blood either, or if she had it hadn't concerned her. Almost an hour later his father had returned this time using soft persuasive words promising her anything she wanted if she would just eat. He could never tell Chloe that, he wouldn't trust her not to cross over and beat them both in the afterlife.

"I don't blame her", he assured her, "but if she hadn't been starving herself like that so often she would have been stronger. She might not have caught the illness, she might not have died."

"You couldn't have made her eat", Chloe told him, sensing what he was about to say.

"Maybe she would have eaten if I had asked her to more often. I shouldn't have offered her children's candy, I should have found truffles …"

"Lex", Chloe put down her bowl on the tray and wrapped her arms around him. "I don't want to be mean, I know that you loved your mother and I can't imagine what it must have been like for her to live with Lionel but I don't think that there was anything that you could have done to make her eat. I don't know why she started doing what she did, but you couldn't have stopped it. She must have known what she was doing and …" she didn't want to say didn't care enough about her son to stop doing it and causing him pain so she opted for, "couldn't stop. There was nothing that you could have done".

He tensed. He knew what she meant. His mother hadn't cared about him either, if she had she wouldn't have done that to herself. "Eat your breakfast", he said tersely.

"Alright", Chloe acquiesced, picking her bowl back up. She had been afraid that he wouldn't forgive her for what she had said, if he still cared about her eating habits and hadn't told her to get out then that must have been a good sign.

The silence stretched between them. She could feel the tension radiating off him. She tried to swallow down her food but she couldn't, not when he might be angry with her and more importantly was obviously hurting.

"I won't do that to you", she finally said quietly.

He looked over at her.

"Not eating I mean. Well, I know that I do have a habit of forgetting to eat and then pigging out on the wrong things but it isn't because I want to punish you or anyone else, I honestly just forget sometimes because I'm so busy thinking about something else but I promise now I know how upset it makes you that I won't do that anymore, not ever. I will remember. I won't forget again, I promise. I won't make you worry", she was desperate to make him understand that she wasn't going to hurt him. She could never forget again; the look of upset on his face, the sound of his voice as he had told her the story were etched on her memory.

Lex still felt the lump in his throat which he didn't think that he could swallow around. He did not like to think about his mother anymore and Chloe had just hurt and elated him more than he could say. Logically he knew that he should know that his mother had not been perfect, he was aware of many of the bad things she had done but still she had always been an angel to him not a real person not a mother.

He looked over at Chloe. She looked worried about him nibbling her lower lip, she was his new angel although he was aware of all of her flaws … he just thought that they added character.

"Good", was all that he said, and he began work on his own breakfast.

"You don't like the extra sugar on it, do you?" She asked, trying to think of something to say.

"Not especially no, the coffee is good though", he complimented taking another swig.

"It is what I do best", Chloe said finishing off her bowel of cereal and placing it back on the tray. Lex put his own bowel down and removed the tray from the bed.

"Well the coffee is good", he said thoughtfully, "but I can think of several things that you do better". He wanted to forget the serious discussion that they had just had, he wanted to forget everything bad in the world and just enjoy being in her arms.

Chloe grinned at him. "Making cereal?"

"Not what I was thinking of no", he turned to her fully.

"Spell checking?" She tried again.

"Good but not your best skill", he grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto the bed.

"Snooping?" Damned certain of what he was actually after, she wriggled against him.

"Nope", he slid his hands down to her knees and spread them, "I believe that there was another C that you mentioned this morning".

"Ah, my computer", she barely got out before Lex's mouth descended on her.

"Oh ah, not computer", she squeaked.

"No, not computer", Lex agreed as he kissed her breasts and ran his hands along her body until she was ready and begging him to take her.

"No, not like this", Chloe said as he positioned himself between her legs.

"How?" he wondered as he watched Chloe scrabbling to her knees and turning around so that she was on all fours.

"Ah, we are moving on the letter D I see", he grinned as he stroked her a few times.

"Lex", she complained. She enjoyed his touch enormously but at that particular moment she just wanted to feel him inside her, brutally hard and fast if at all possible.

"Yes", he replied conversationally, as if he weren't aware that she was dying for him. He dragged his thumb across her clit and watched as she bucked against him.

"Please Lex, stop teasing", she begged.

The sound of her voice very nearly made him come undone; his need was very nearly as great as her own.

"Really, I was under the impression that you enjoyed teasing", he taunted her with his words and his digits.

"Teasing others yes, being teased nu-ah", she gasped as he circled her clit.

"Too bad", he continued to rub her.

"Please Lex, please just fuck … oh fuck yes", she cried out as he slipped into her.

"Damn you're so tight", he growled as he slid into her a little further, being careful not to hurt her.

"More", she whimpered trying to push back against him.

Encouraged Lex began to move his hips against her with greater vigour, holding tightly onto her hips. Chloe began to make noises which only forced him to increase his speed. She drove him crazy in a way that no one else could.

Satisfied that she could take everything that he had to give her, he reached over her and grabbed the headboard and used it for leverage. He slammed into her with renewed force and heard her shouting with approval.

"You sure you want it hard and fast? Not gentle and teasing?" He tormented her with his words but showed no signs of slowing down.

"Yes Lex", she panted.

"I love you", he growled in her ear, when he had the breath.

"You too", Chloe got out between moans.

They were both panting, sweating profusely and feeling this in every muscle in their bodies but kept going. The headboard was rattling from their combined efforts, they were both about to come when thump.

Then bed broke. They both pitched forwards, Lex driving even deeper into Chloe causing them to both climax at the same moment even as they slumped forwards on the destroyed bed.


	34. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

"Oh my God that was amazing", Chloe breathed a contented sigh as Lex helped her up and they made their way into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

"Indeed it was", he agreed, admiring the sway of her naked hips as she walked a little way ahead of him.

"I can't believe that you brought such a cheap bed though", Chloe laughed. She had expected a lot of things from dating a Luthor, but inferior furniture had not been one of them.

"I didn't, everything here is top of the line. That was a solid oak bed", Lex informed her huffily. He had no idea what had gone wrong with the bed and was more than a little annoyed by it. Although it suited his manliness to believe that he had been capable of destroying a bed as strong as that one Chloe could have been seriously injured. He was going to have more than a few words to say to the bed manufacturer.

"You sure about that?" She asked as she turned on the shower and checked that there were towels nearby.

"Of course I am, the only think that I can think is that something somehow got shaken loose", he hypothesized.

"Very scientific", she teased him testing the water with her hand to check that it was the right temperature; she had absolutely no desire to partake in another icy shower even if Lex was with her this time.

"Well that is all that I can think of, you have turned my brains to mush woman", he accused her without any real trace of annoyance in his tone.

"Yeah yeah", she decided that the water was warm enough and stepped under the spray with a grin. "Going to have a team of specialists put on it?" She asked. "Going to have it taken apart and gone over a hundred times and when they don't find anything refuse to let it go and destroy our relationship with the obsession?"

"No, I learned my lesson. Nothing is going to separate me from you, nothing!" He stepped into the shower and wrapped his arms around her to make his point, "You are mine, now and forever".

"Absolutely. I will always love you", Chloe promised as she pulled him down as she rose to her tip toes so that she could kiss him. It was short and sweet, but powerful.

"Good, because I never plan on letting you go", Lex's kiss in return was hot and savage, enough to make any girl's knees go weak, which was probably why he did not notice that she had tensed at his words.

Once they were clean they went out and strolled through Metropolis.

"It feels so good to be outside", Chloe enthused as she practically skipped along by Lex's side, holding his hand.

"It is, although I could do with it being a couple of degrees warmer", Lex smiled down at her. Chloe was bundled up and looked adorable whilst he only had on a coat over his normal clothes and hadn't even bothered to button it. He didn't feel the cold as much as most people but the touch of frost in the air still bit at his uncovered head.

"I told you to bring a scarf", Chloe reminded him, she let go of his hand and moved closer to him to wrap one around his back and place her other one on his stomach, seeing if that would warm him up a bit.

"So you did", he remarked wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Although I still think that my idea of going to the Caribbean for a couple of weeks was better".

"Yes, well maybe it was but I have a job to do so we are going to go back home at the end of today and get settled in so that I can work tomorrow", she said, looking up out of the corner of his eye to see how he reacted to her calling the mansion her home. If he didn't like it, she supposed that she could always say that she had been talking about Smallville.

"Yes I've got to get you back home so that you can move everything into our room and probably end up putting girlie things everywhere", he grinned down at her, he had noticed her waiting and trying to gage his reaction. He thought that they had already been over this and that he had made himself clear with regards to wanting her to be in his life and in his – now their – home but he couldn't blame her he really, he had not always been the most reliable of men.

Chloe tried to hide how happy she was when she teased him, "I don't actually have any knick knacks, but I was thinking about painting it pink".

"No to the pink, and we will just have to go and buy you some knick knacks, won't we?" He grinned at her and steered her towards the nearest shop, "Tchotchkes are us".

"The great and powerful Lex Luthor is going to change his entire lifestyle for some girl", she taunted him.

"Yeah for some girl", Lex agreed before looking around and pointing to some random girl, "for that one over there I think".

Chloe slapped his arm. "Just for that you are getting a ballerina figurine", she warned him.

"Yeah, wait until I get you home and you see what you get for referring to yourself as some girl".

They continued in much the same way throughout their morning and the first part of their afternoon. They shopped, went to lunch, then an art museum before taking a stroll in the park flirting and teasing each other all the while, interspersed with lots of kissing and hugging. They were young and in love and determined to make the most of it.

Lex smiled as they walked along the main street in Metropolis, they went by the Daily Planet as noticed as one of the editors did a double take as they saw Chloe with Lex. Well that settled it; their relationship would be in all of the papers by tomorrow morning. Lex didn't mind and it was just as well as that the world got used to the idea that Chloe was going to be his wife and that he was now off the market.

The only real concern that Lex could think of at that moment was how Chloe was going to adapt to life in the spotlight, but then he decided that that might not be so bad. She hadn't flinched at all today and they had been surrounded by people for most of the day. She really must be getting better. He knew logically that it was just because she was getting more used to her normal life again, but he hoped that his love had played some part in it.

"What are you thinking about?" Chloe wondered.

"The editor of The Daily Planet saw us together", he informed her.

"I know, but he wasn't the first. Plenty of people have seen us together and, knowing what people in Metropolis are like, have probably taken pictures on their phones and sent them to a newspaper hoping to get some money out of it by now. Does that bother you?" Chloe wondered, hoping that it didn't. It wasn't that she wanted to have her picture splattered all over the place, she didn't. But she knew that it came along with the territory of being Lex Luthor's girlfriend and she was willing to put up with anything if it meant that she could be with him.

"No, of course not", he rubbed her arm. "I was just thinking that you had better call Gabe and explain the situation. I know that you wanted to wait until we were better to see him so that you didn't worry him, but he needs to know about this from you before he sees it in the newspaper while eating his cornflakes".

"The doctor said that he wasn't supposed to have cornflakes anymore", she thought out loud, "But you are completely right. I was planning on calling him and telling him tomorrow but maybe now is the right time to do it. I don't want him to feel that I am deliberately keeping things from him".

"Why don't we go to a café, get a coffee and you can call him right now", Lex suggested, seeing a nice little café nearby and knowing that Chloe would worry about this until it was done.

"Great", Chloe agreed. She could smell the coffee from where she was standing, she could easily call her Dad from there.

Once she was seated and Lex had gone off to get their coffees Chloe looked around to check that no one was listening and then dialled her Dad's phone number. After a few seconds it picked up,

"Baby, are you alright?" Gabe demanded. Having advanced caller ID he knew it was Chloe and hadn't been expecting a call that day and he always worried about her now.

"Yes Daddy, I'm great. I didn't call you because anything was wrong, I called to tell you something and ask you something", she said, feeling bad that she had made him worry. She certainly hadn't been a good daughter in recent years, she was sure that she taken years of his life.

"Oh, that's brilliant. What is it?" He inquired, heaving a sigh of relief.

Chloe was fairly certain that she could hear someone in the background bustling into the room, asking Gabe why he looked so strange, was it Chloe on the phone? Was she alright? Was Gabe was alright? Chloe knew that that must have been Annie (her Dad's live-in girlfriend), she was delighted that her father had finally found someone and that because of Lionel's death they could be together, he deserved that. She really wanted to meet Annie.

"I'm … I'm um I'm Lex's girlfriend", Chloe really didn't know any other way of saying it.

"Lex Luthor's?" Gabe checked.

"How many other Lex's do you know, Dad?" Chloe wondered.

"Four".

"Oh".

"No, I'm only joking. I only know one but I thought that I would just double check", he said calmly.

"You don't sound all that shocked", Chloe noted.

"No, not especially. I always suspected that you two would end up falling in love and I have seen the pictures of him in the newspapers since your disappearance, he never looked right", Gabe explained.

"You never thought that he was, you know, out of my league?" She wondered.

"What? Out of my baby's league? Of course not. No such thing!" Gabe protested. There was silence for a moment and then he asked, "Does he make you happy?"

"Yes", Chloe answered simply, beaming from ear to ear.

Gabe grinned; he could hear the joy in her voice.

"Well then I will attempt to come to terms with the fact that he is trying to take my baby away from me", he offered generously.

"Thank-you Dad", Chloe bounced up and down a little.

She heard something in the background again, it sounded like Annie. She sounded as if she were trying to get all of the information out of Gabe as he found it out.

"How would you feel about coming down here for a visit soon? You and Annie?" Chloe asked feeling oddly nervous. She knew that there was no reason to be worried, her Dad wouldn't refuse her but he had a new life now and …

"Yes!" Her father almost shouted.

"What?" Chloe heard a female voice – which again she assumed to be Annie's - ask.

"Chloe asked if we wanted visit", Gabe explained, a little indistinctly.

"Yes!" There was another shriek.

"Annie is very excited about visiting. We will be there next weekend", Gabe promised her. "I'm so happy to hear from you baby girl".

"I know Daddy. I've missed you so much. I'm sorry I didn't come to see you first thing last week, I was just … I was getting used to being around people and I was a bit of a mess and I didn't want you to see me like that. I didn't want you to worry".

"I always worry, that is my job and you know that you never have to worry about what I think. But you are happy now, right? You sound so much better", Gabe was desperate to know that she was happy.

"Yes Dad, I'm great now", she wished that he could be there to see her now and see her with Lex. If he could, he wouldn't doubt her happiness. If her heart got broken then it would be her own doing.

"And Lex has something to do with this?"

"Yes", she admitted.

"Alright, I will try really really super hard to like him then", Gabe offered.

"I'm sure that he will be happy to hear that", Chloe laughed, "he is just coming along with coffee".

"I'll let you go then, I'll call you again tomorrow and see you Friday afternoon", Gabe promised her.

"Alright, I love you" she told him.

"I love you too. Now I have to go and try to stop Annie baking enough scones to sink a battle ship, she is very happy", Gabe laughed as he watched his girlfriend starting to cook in the kitchen.

Chloe laughed, although it really wasn't a laughing matter. "Doesn't you know about your cholesterol?"

"Oh don't you start. Yes she does know and it is now half of what it was. She has found a way to replace butter, fat, oil, sugar and syrup in all foods", Gabe sounded like he was grumbling but they both knew that he loved it.

"Wow, very impressive", Chloe admitted.

"Yes, now go make goo goo eyes at your boyfriend for a while", Gabe advised.

"Alright. Bye".

"Bye bye".

"How did he take it?" Lex wondered as he sat down and placed Chloe's coffee in front of her.

"About as well as expected", she answered honestly, eyeing her coffee with delight.

"He is planning on trying to kill me?" Lex asked. That is what he would be thinking if he had a little girl like Chloe and some man was trying to date her.

"No Lex, he says that he is happy if I am happy. He is going to make a concerted effort not to dislike you and he and Annie are coming to visit next weekend", Chloe informed him, suddenly wondering if she should feel odd about inviting people into Lex's house as if it were her own.

"That's great!" Lex was honestly delighted, even if it did mean that he was going to have to share Chloe for a little while.

"I know", she grinned. "I'm so excited".

"So I see. Which is odd because most girls would be nervous about meeting their new stepmother", he teased and Chloe's face fell.

"Oh God I hadn't even thought of that", Chloe's face fell.

"I was only joking honey", Lex assured her as they walked back into their bedroom at the mansion. "I didn't mean for you to go crazy worrying about whether Annie is actually going to like you or not. You know that she is going to love you, right?"

"I know you didn't mean to worry me, I'm not worried. I just want to make sure that everything is perfect for when she comes. You know you can never make a second first impression", Chloe quoted one of her most hated maxims.

"Chloe honey, come here", Lex held his arms out to her and she allowed herself to be hugged. "Next week is not going to be the first impression she has of you, just like meeting you in The Torch wasn't the first impression I got of you".

"It wasn't?" Chloe looked confused.

"No, it wasn't. You see I had met your father before that. Gabe tells everyone about you, and I do mean everyone. Your entire life story is known before he remembers to mention that his name is Gabe. You can laugh at that, but it is the truth", he brushed a stand of hair from her face. "Trust me, she knows _all_ about you and already adores you. If she didn't, Gabe wouldn't have anything to do with her".

"Well that is true. He broke up with a woman before due to her lack of sense of humour when I slipped chocolate milk all down her front", Chloe remembered fondly. She had never liked that woman.

"Accidently?" Lex asked, already guessing the answer.

"No", Chloe shook her head.

He smiled. "The onus is on her to love you, not the other way around. So stop stressing. We will make sure that everything is set up perfectly before they get here, get whatever you want for them to eat and get good entertainment but don't make yourself sick worrying about this. Just concentrate on your Dad".

Chloe smiled up at him.

"How do you know the right thing to say?"

"It's a gift".

"Do you fancy fornicating now?"

"Sure".


	35. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

"You know, there is a good chance that you are the hardest working person that I have ever had in my employ", Lex said as he examined the enormous diagram that Chloe had made in front of the fireplace.

"You are forgetting about my Dad", Chloe announced.

"True, but I still think that you could give him a run for his money", Lex gaped at the intricacy of her work.

"But I don't do anything after work, he had to pay bills, run a house and raise a daughter", Chloe pointed out.

"Alright sweetheart", he placed his hands on her shoulders from behind and kissed her on the cheek, "I am sorry that I almost implied that someone might match up to your father, I realise the error of my ways".

"Good", Chloe smiled and reached around to stroke his cheek.

"This really is impressive, Chloe", he commended her. "You have every single player on the board, all of the information on them, how they link together and how to manipulate them with knock on effects. I mean your work last week was amazing but this … this is going to be what gets my candidate elected".

"Yes, and this", she handed him a file, "is what is going to keep him on board."

Lex looked at her in confusion, "What is this? There is nothing in his past".

"On the contrary, you would be surprised what I managed to dig up and then there is this", she handed him another collection of files

"And this one?" He wondered.

"That one is full of things that I have managed to pin on him", Chloe smiled.

"You did what?" He gasped; he had never expected to hear those words coming out of her lips.

"You heard me", she saw that he was still gaping at her and so tried to explain. "I don't like manipulating people, I really don't and I find the idea of pinning things on people to get them to toe the line repugnant but … like it or not the USA is one of the most powerful countries in the world. We need someone with some sense to run it, that person is you. This man is going to be your front man; he is going to do the actual running part of it. He will get what he could never have dreamed of so he really has no reason to complain and the world needs you".

"You really believe in me that much?" He was amazed.

"You know that I do", Chloe turned around so that she was facing him fully. "I love you".

"I love you too", he grinned and hugged her.

"Yes, but do you understand that when I say that I love you, the fact that I trust and respect you are built into that?" She asked.

Lex coloured a little at those words, he guessed that he had never thought about it like that. He had yearned for love but had always believed that if he managed to get it from someone that it would be unwillingly bestowed something that she wouldn't be able to rationalise. Her trust had hoped to win but again thought that it would only extend as far as herself – and even then she might have some small doubts – the idea that she would trust him with the entire world was incredible. He had never even dreamed of earning her respect.

Chloe smiled at him, unable to believe that she had actually made Lex Luthor blush. She kissed his cheek, and gave him a tight squeeze.

He was so sweet. She couldn't wait to see his face when he effectively gained control of the world, only then she realised that she might never see that. She might not be by his side when that happened, as she would have to have left him by then.

"Lex, you know that I am on your side right? That this is more than a job to me and that I will always be here for you if you need me whatever happens and that I will do everything I possibly can to make sure that you get into power". She had to make him understand that whatever else happened between them she loved him and that he could always count on her, even if it didn't always seem that way.

"Yes, I know that", he looked down at her with concern. "Sweetheart, what is the matter?" He asked as he stroked her hair, trying to sooth her.

"Nothing", she shook her head. "I am just being silly I guess".

She hated lying to him but she couldn't tell him yet, she wasn't ready and she didn't want to lose what time they had left together. It would be heart breaking when she had to leave whatever happened so she might as well be sure they had as many good memories of each other as possible.

"You're lying to me Chloe", his voice was calm but still managed to send a chill up her spine.

"I …" she tried to deny it.

"Chloe", he said in a warning tone.

"I lied", she admitted, burying her head in his chest, it was easier than looking at him and she wanted the comfort.

Lex rubbed her back.

"You never have to lie to me Chloe", he told her, wondering what on earth was going on.

"I know, it's just … there are some things I just don't want to face yet", Chloe explained indistinctly into his jacket.

"About your time away?" He asked, feeling his body tense up.

"No, about the kind of woman that I want to be", Chloe tried to make sense of what she was trying to tell him, without actually telling him what was going on.

"And what kind of woman is that?" He asked, wondering what on earth Chloe would want to improve on. She was perfect.

"Not one like Moira", Chloe said.

"I don't think that there is any chance of you ending up like that", Lex told her truthfully; all of the images he had of her with a little blonde daughter included her as a doting mother.

"I don't know. I see the potential in myself to end up like her and I don't want that. I won't end up like that", she said.

"Okay sweetie, you won't end up like that", he comforted her, wondering what on earth she saw in herself that led her to believe that she could end up like that.

The truth was that Chloe was fairly certain that if she ever had Lex's child she would never be able to leave it, strike that she was certain. What was she was worried about was the possibility of ending up as a useless wife who did nothing to earn her keep and just complained about things but then left for no reason, thinking that something better would come along. It wasn't good enough for her just to be Lex's lady, she needed a job and a life for her own – with him in it of course – but she needed to prove to herself that she could survive on her own only then could she completely give herself to someone else. That was why she had to leave him when this job as over, even if it broke her heart. If she did not, she would never be worthy of him.

"No, I won't", she promised him. "I won't let you down".

"I know you won't honey, I never thought that you could", he stroked her head a little more and kissed her, wondering what had got in to her that day. He knew that she was supposed to be meeting up with Lois tomorrow, maybe that would cheer her up.

"Trust me I could, but I won't", she nuzzled into him.

She might have stayed like that all day if one of the maids hadn't come in to inform Chloe that her guest had arrived.

"He's early", Chloe murmured taking another deep relaxing Lex filled breath before reluctantly pulling away.

"Him?" Lex checked.

"Yes him", Chloe teased him, "it is a male. But as work ended 10 minutes ago I'm sure that you are not going to question that are you?"

"No", Lex said. He trusted her, even if he did want to know who the mysterious male visitor was.

Chloe smiled at him. "I'll be about three hours and we will be using my old room".

"Three hours?" Lex asked, trying to some casual. He knew that Chloe wouldn't cheat on him, but that didn't mean that he had to like her being alone with strange men for three hours.

"Yes, that is about normal, isn't it?" Chloe asked, enjoying the possible double entendre and knowing that Lex wouldn't misunderstand.

"Depends what for", he stated simply.

"Getting my hair done", Chloe gave him a grin.

"I wouldn't know", Lex reminded her pointing to his hairless head.

"Well don't let Enrico get near you, he will probably try to steal you away from me, he thinks that you are fabulous", Chloe put on an extremely effected accent.

"I'll stay out of his way then".

Lex sat in his study with a good glass of whiskey and five newspapers laid out before him. He and Chloe had indeed been spotted the day before and now they were in every major paper and on the front page of most.

He could hardly believe his eyes at some of the pictures they had captured. Most of them were obviously on mobile phones but they were still amazing. They looked every bit the young couple in love.

Every single newspaper had commented on how relaxed and happy he looked, and what a difference love had made to him. There was no doubt that he was in love, most of the newspapers were holding odds on how long it would take him to propose betting anywhere from six months to a year, not guessing that the answer was nowhere near that.

The rest of the articles had been taken up with speculation concerning Chloe. He couldn't blame them; she was extremely photogenic and looked like a movie star in the pictures. Every single picture was better than the last although he thought that his favourite had to be the one from The Inquisitor it had a picture of her squeezing his bottom with the title "Another slim brunette getting her hands on the Luthor assets".

In fact, he liked it so much he planned on showing it to Chloe the first chance he got. He checked his watch, she wasn't going to be finished for a while longer yet. He wondered what she was doing to her hair that was taking this long.

He flipped through another few articles, the Wall Street Journal was wondering how his apparent good mood would affect the stock market and suggested that it might be part of a plan from another company to weaken his position. He snorted; they had no idea that Chloe was going to be his not so secret weapon from now on.

So far only one newspaper had worked out the identity of his mystery lover was The Daily Planet although that meant that tomorrow everyone would know.

_Lex Luthor's mystery companion was none other than Miss Chloe Ann Sullivan. If that name doesn't mean anything to you then you should probably consider buying a paper more often. This exceptional young woman first became known to us when she was merely 15 years old and she came and wrote a brilliant series of articles for this newspaper over her summer holidays. When the school year started up again we were heartbroken to lose her as everyone in the office had been impressed not only with her merit was a journalist but also as a person. It was with great sadness but no surprise when we learned almost a year later that she had discovered the truth about Lionel Luthor's sordid history and had striven to bring him to justice._

_This newspaper was never more delighted than today when we discovered that Chloe Ann Sullivan had not actually been murdered in the horrific explosion that destroyed her safe house. We do not as yet know exactly what happened but can only hope that when she is ready that Miss Sullivan will continue her writing career and tell us all about her journey possibly in this very newspaper._

_Welcome back to the land of the living Miss Chloe Ann Sullivan._

It didn't quite do her justice in Lex's opinion, but it was a start and was glad to hear that they already wanted her to start writing for them again.

"What are you doing?" He heard Chloe's voice coming up from behind him.

"Reading about my girlfriend, the whole world is buzzing about you sweetheart", he handed the paper as she came around to stand in front of him. He had been about ask what she had had done to her hair that had taken three hours, but then he laid eyes on her.

Chloe glanced at the picture of her pinching his bottom and the title and giggled but then looked at him almost nervously.

"What do you think? Do you like it?" She asked referring to her new hair style.

"I'm not sure", Lex fought to keep his face neutral as he got to his feet, "Twirl around, let me see it all".

Feeling a little self-conscious she did and Lex noticed that her hair was a little shorter with a slight fringe, but more to the point was back to a golden blonde and curly.

"No, I'm sorry this won't do at all", he said seriously.

Chloe's face fell.

"I can't possibly let you outside like that", he threw her over his shoulder and made for the door, ""You're too damned sexy. I think that you had better stay somewhere nice and safe like our bed".


End file.
